Brian Stephen Ellis is an author, teacher and performance artist. He teaches storytelling classes through Portland Community College Continuing Education and Kickstand Comedy. He is also a story producer with the award winning Backfence storytelling series. He is the author of the chapbook Pharmakos (Destructible Heart Press, 2006), the poetry collections Uncontrolled Experiments in Freedom (2008) and Yesterday Won’t Goodbye (2011) from Write Bloody Books; American Dust Revisited (2013) and Often Go Awry (2015) from University of Hell Press; and Against Common Sense (Limit Zero Publications 2023); and well as the short story collection Pretty Much the Last Hardcore Kid in This Town (Alien Buddha Press 2023). He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize six times. In 2014, he received the William Stafford War No More Award. In 2025, Against Common Sense was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award.