“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.”
“John’s language is a form of animism...an intellect sharpened by heart.”
“John’s work brings us closer to what it means to be human.”
Able Muse Review, Summer 2016 Print Edition
Embodied Effigies, Issue 7
John Ellis’ essays, poems, articles, and book reviews have appeared in Relief Journal, African Writer Magazine, Able Muse Review, Kalahari Review, Ginosko Literary Journal, and The Clayjar Review, among other periodicals. His memoir, In Deserts with 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, Ellis 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. Ellis can be found on Poets & Writers’ directory.
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.
Narrative Essays
Published in Kalahari Review | September 2024
Published in African Writer Magazine | August 2024
Published in Kalahari Review | April 2024
“Talibés: les Enfants du Sénégal” (Talibes: Senegal’s Children)
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
Poems
Published in The Clayjar Review | December 2024
Fiction
Short story written for The Saint Mary’s College Master of Fine Arts Graduate Student Anthology | May 2017
Reviews
Published in the Journal of Veterans Studies | May 2019
Published in Able Muse Review | July 2016
Articles
Published in Theology Mix | February 2021
“Veterans Studies’ New Trailblazer”
Written in association with the Journal of Veterans Studies for Medium.com | July 2020
Written in association with the Journal of Veterans Studies for Medium.com | December 2019
Collaborations
“On the Paradox of a Dying Child” (Reading performed by actress Val Cole)
Forthcoming on Wildsound Poetry Readings | July 2025
The French Language and the Fulbright Experience Abroad - Talk (Live)
Thoreau Middle School, Virginia | April 2024
Capturing the Beauty of Saint Louis, Senegal, in Prose - Seminar (Live)
L’Institut D’Etudes Avancees de Saint Louis, Senegal | July 2022
Veterans in Academics - John Ellis - Interview (Audio)
Veterans in Academics Podcast, Freedom and Prosperity Think Tank | May 2021
An Argonaut’s Anthology with John Ellis - Interview (Audio)
The Walk Podcast, with John I. Snyder | April 2021
MFA Alum John Ellis ’17 Wins Fulbright Award - Media (Print)
Saint Mary’s College | July 2020
Liberia, 1985 - Reading (Live)
Weekday Wanderlust, San Francisco | April 2018
“I believe that much unseen is also here.”
“The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location.”
To contact John for speaking/reading events, please complete the following form:
