Deonna Kelli Sayed is a writer-performer based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Deonna’s essays and short stories are included in Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women; Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay; and Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction From a Small Planet, Volume III. She is the author of Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits, and a TEDx speaker.
Her personal essays appear online, including at The Dirty Spoon, and Jennifer Pastiloff’s The Manifest-Station. Deonna is an award-winning multimedia journalist for her podcast series at Yes!Weekly, an independent newspaper, featuring LGBTQ issues in North Carolina.
Originally from rural North Florida, Deonna is a globally connected storyteller engaged in interfaith work modeled on dialogue across difference. She is the Membership Coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network, and Festival Coordinator for Greensboro Bound, 2018-2019. She is active in her local arts community, and served as staff for the 2019 North Carolina Folk Festival. Learn more about Deonna here, and keep up with her and local PEN America events on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
PEN America in Piedmont Region
Recent Events
PEN Write Now: Your South, Our South
PEN Write Now presents “Your South, Our South,” a community event exploring ‘the South” through the experiences of emerging writers of color. More…
Censorship in Medical Education & the Humanities
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, states across the country have restricted access to abortion and, often, to speech and information about abortion. These restrictions have intersected in unusual ways with education about reproductive health in medical schools and residency programs. They also form an intriguing parallel More…
PEN Write Now: Prompt Party
Calling writers, musicians, actors of all ages — and anyone with a creative bone. Prompt Party is an evening of collaborative fun. More…