University Of Delaware: R Is For Representation

Press release from the University of Delaware:

July 28, 2021

Educator and children’s author Keaira Faña-Ruiz celebrates heritage, diversity

Keaira Faña-Ruiz grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, with parents who prized reading, literature and education. At age 7, she was already composing her own poetry.

Her mother and father were not the only family members who shared their love of reading. “When I look back at my childhood favorites, I definitely see my sisters having a hand in my choices,” she said. Her two older sisters took turns reading Dr. Seuss to her during her early childhood years and would eventually pass along gifts that became some of her most treasured possessions: their book collections.

“As I got older, one of my sisters gifted me with her entire Baby-Sitters Club collection and my other sister helped me build up my Junie B. Jones collection. I was obsessed with these series!” Faña-Ruiz said.

Faña-Ruiz attended high school at Delaware Military Academy, a public charter school in Wilmington, where she continued to write and read voraciously. “I always enjoyed writing and reading for fun,” she said. Faña-Ruiz, née Broomer, said that she thrived in her Honors English courses in high school; it was then that she began to dream of being an author herself.

Faña-Ruiz enrolled at the Associate in Arts Program’s Wilmington campus in 2012 and credits University of Delaware English faculty — particularly the AAP’s David Satran, David Teague, and Alicia Beecher, and later Margaret Stetz at the Newark campus — for nurturing her writing talent.

“Without the support of these individuals, I wouldn't have had the courage to major in my passion, English, and to finish my bachelor's degree,” she said. Faña-Ruiz earned her associate’s degree from the AAP in 2014 and transitioned to the main campus in Newark to complete her bachelor’s degree.

This press release was produced by the University of Delaware. The views expressed here are the author’s own.