Featured Work:

Our Native Tongue

“ Published in The Kalahari Review

 
John Ellis makes a strong case for humanity, and he writes such convincing, engaging, engrossing prose that you will fail to pinpoint exactly why you never stopped reading.
— Siavash Saadlou (Writer, Literary Translator)
 
John’s language is a form of animism...an intellect sharpened by heart.
— Kelly Egan (Poet)
 
John’s work brings us closer to what it means to be human.
— Joanne Furio (Journalist, Essayist)
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Able Muse Review, Summer 2016 Print Edition

Able Muse Review, Summer 2016 Print Edition

Embodied Effigies, Issue 7

Embodied Effigies, Issue 7

 

About

John Ellis’ nonfiction has appeared in Relief Journal, African Writer Magazine, Able Muse Review, Kalahari Review, Ginosko Literary Journal, and Embodied Effigies Magazine, among other literary periodicals. His memoir, The Desert and C.S. Lewis, about teaching San Francisco’s underprivileged youth and traversing the Mojave Desert, is forthcoming.

Born in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, John was raised in West Africa, Europe, and the Northeastern United States. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, he studied under award-winning authors Sarah Manguso and Joyce Maynard at Saint Mary’s College of California, where he was a graduate fellow and veteran scholarship recipient. In 2020, he earned a Fulbright Scholarship to Senegal, to write about West Africa. He serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Veterans Studies, an academic journal dedicated to the scholarly investigation of military veterans.

John considers all things through the grand récit and personhood of Jesus Christ; his work is an attempt to render his vita experientias within the True, the Good, and the Beautiful of Christ’s Lordship.

John can also be found on Poets & Writers’ directory of authors.

 

Selected Work

Narrative Nonfiction

Published in African Writer Magazine | August 2024

Published in Kalahari Review | April 2024

Published in African Writer Magazine | December 2022

Republished in Ginosko Literary Journal | August 2019

Published in Embodied Effigies Magazine | February 2018

  • “Liberia, 1985”

Published in Jonah Magazine | February 2018

Published in Relief Journal | June 2017

Think Pieces

Published in Kalahari Review | September 2024

Reviews

Published in the Journal of Veterans Studies | May 2019

Published in Able Muse Review | July 2016

Articles

Published in Theology Mix | February 2021

Written in association with the Journal of Veterans Studies for Medium.com | December 2019

Fiction

Short story written for The Saint Mary’s College Master of Fine Arts Graduate Student Anthology | May 2017

 

Images

Events

 
I believe that much unseen is also here.
— Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open road"
 

John supports the following charitable organizations and encourages his site visitors to do the same:

 
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Contact

To contact John for speaking/reading events, please complete the following form: