Ellen Estilai

Ellen Estilai has spent much of her career collaborating with artists, writers, and agencies to strengthen communities through the arts. She has served as the executive director of two Southern California arts agencies, the Riverside Arts Council and the Arts Council Council for San Bernardino County, and has taught English language, literature, and writing in universities in Iran and California. Her essays, short stories, and poetry have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She is the author of a memoir of Iran, Exit Prohibited (Inlandia Institute, 2023), and the hybrid chapbook The Museum of Missing Things (Jamii Publishing, 2023). Because Ellen and her husband have been immigrants in each other’s countries, her writing frequently explores the joys and tribulations of the immigrant experience. She lives in Southern California.