Deonna Kelli Sayed is North Florida-born. She is a writer, performer, and arts programmer. Now based in North Carolina, Deonna represents the PEN America NC Piedmont Chapter.
Deonna is the author of Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks and Spirits. Her essays are included in Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women and New Moons:Contemporary Writings by North American Muslims. Her short stories are featured in the Press 53 anthology, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction From a Small Planet, Red Fez, and Drunk Monkey.
She premiered her original debut solo show, American Body, in October 2023 as part of Creative Greensboro Stephen D. Hyers Residency.
In 2020, Deonna’s short essay, Joe and the Shawl, was turned into an award-winning short film by director Nicole Ballivian.
Deonna is the open mic maven for Scuppernong Editions monthly gathering.
She is currently working on a novel set in North Florida that explores the state’s hybrid cultural and racial history with a focus on her family’s Catawba heritage (Ayers-Kegg). Her day job is a grant writer for a local sexual health and justice nonprofit.
Follow Deonna on Twitter @deonnakelli, Instagram @deonnasayed, and TikTok @deonnasayed.
Deonna Kelli Sayed 