Shannon “Elle” Jeffries (b. 1993) is a community and world-builder from Cleveland, Ohio. Steward of words and wisdom, Shannon transforms the truth of our lived experience into worlds that are honest, untidy, and resonant, leveraging discomfort to call forth the ability to feel, mourn, and remember.

Through fiction and essay, Shannon explores the complexities and contradictions of those living at the margins and intersections. She wrestles with themes of belonging, defining and establishing home, and bodily and emotional autonomy for Black women. Her essays have appeared in White Wall Review and midnight & indigo. She is also the author of Deep Condition, a self-published novel released in 2018. Shannon is a graduate of The Ohio State University and University of Maryland College Park.

For her second novel, Shannon is following questions and curiosities while tracing the legacy of the Great Migration in Northeast Ohio. In her research, she is unearthing narratives of Black migrants and their descendants residing in Cleveland, a city suspended between promise and reality in the 20th century. Additionally, she will examine the role of the media in shaping perceptions of Black life, particularly during this period.

Shannon is a 2025 Writer-in-Residence at the Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, VA, and based in Rockville, MD.

WRITING PORTFOLIO