Biography
Keeonna Harris (she/her) is a memoirist, creative nonfiction writer, and abolitionist scholar, born and raised in Watts, and other parts of South Central Los Angeles. In her writing, she focuses on the health disparities and radical organizing for women connected to systems of mass incarceration.
Harris’ memoir Mainline Mama (Amistad Press, 2025) explores motherhood, familial relationships, and well-being for Black women in the United States. Her work has been published in various venues including Salon.com, So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion, and Birth and (Super)vision: On Motherhood and Surveillance.
Harris has received several honors including a 2018–2019 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, a 2021 Tin House Summer Residency, a 2023 Baldwin Center for the Arts Residency, and a 2023 Hedgebrook Writer Fellowship as the 2023 Edith Wharton Resident.
Harris earned her PhD from Arizona State University. She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington, where she is developing the “Borderland Project,” a mental health and community support system for women forced to navigate carceral institutions to maintain connections with incarcerated persons.
