Kim Shuck is the daughter of a former career military man from North Eastern Oklahoma. She spent her childhood in several places including San Francisco, where she now writes, publishes, and has taught both at the elementary and college level – teaching Native American studies at SF State University. Proud of her Polish and Sauk and Fox as well as her Cherokee heritage, Kim is a storyteller and poet, drawing from her life experiences. She encourages and promotes emerging Native writers by organizing spoke word events in the Bay Area. Kim weaves baskets and textiles, using the skills her great-grandmother shared with her, and she has shown throughout the United States as well as in Taiwan. She recently published a volume of poetry, Smuggling Cherokee and has been involved in editing both Words Upon the Waters, and Oakland Out Loud, anthologies of poetry.