Writer. Scholar. Activist.

Stories. Poetry. Nonfiction.

Resistance. Resilience. Imagination.

My name is Joy Michael Ellison. I am a writer, a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at University of Rhode Island, and a grassroots, community activist. I am interested in using stories, both fictional and true, to build community, document social movements, and imagine a liberated world. I believe that storytelling is integral to healing, transformation, resistance, and survival.

“You write in order to change the world…the world changes according to how people see it and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” – James Baldwin

Get My Books

Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution! tells the story of transgender heroes Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Buy it on Bookshop and support local bookstores – and I get a couple extra bucks too!

Flor Fights Back brings the Stonewall Rebellion to life for Middle Grade readers through historical fiction. It’s available on my Bookshop as well.

Willi Ninja: Vogue Legend is the first in my series of queer and transgender picture book biographies. It will be published in May 2026 and you can pre-order it now!