Joy Elan

Joy Elan is an award winning author and spoken word artist from Oakland and Berkeley, CA. She uses her writing to advocate for civil rights for Blacks/people of color, women, and people with disabilities. With her poetry and novels, she speaks about social issues that affect people from locally to globally.

Joy Elan received her BA degree in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and her MA degree in Education at Stanford University. She was born with a hearing loss and has been wearing hearing aids since she was 15 months. Despite the obstacles she faced, she overcame many of them and continues to overcome obstacles.