Kelli Jo Ford

Kelli Jo Ford (born April 19, 1975) is an American novelist and writer. Her novel-in-stories, Crooked Hallelujah, was one of NPR's "Books we love" for 2020" and a New York Times Editors Choice.

Ford is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in Virginia. She teaches in the MFA program of the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Early life and education
Ford was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at the W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital, the only child of Valerie Hancock (nee Ford) and Joe Tom Hancock. In her early years, she was raised in and around the Holiness Church. The family later moved to Nocona, Texas, where Ford attended high school. She later graduated with a bachelor's degree from Loyola University New Orleans and earned an MFA from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where she studied fiction with Alan Cheuse, Richard Bausch, and Stephen Goodwin.

Ford says that the characters in Crooked Hallelujah were inspired by the powerful maternal figures in her own family. Ford told NPR that her book's title was "an exclamation of the beauty of the relationships between mothers and daughters, despite hardships and despite disagreements."

Writing
In addition to Crooked Hallelujah, Ford has published short stories in numerous literary journals and magazines. Her short story "Hybrid Vigor" won The Paris Review's 2019 Plimpton Prize, and the opening story of her novel, "Book of Generations," was awarded the Missouri Review's 2018 Peden Prize.

Most recently, Ford's story "Reney, Mostly" was featured in McSweeney's 2021 audio issue.

Ford's fiction often centers on themes of place, home, and family relationships among generations of women. She has been described by Dwight Garner in The New York Times as "quietest." Other reviewers noted that Ford's work deals with the effects of transgenerational trauma and the role of religion in the lives of her characters.

Ford says she sees her work as the stories of strong women helping each other escape cycles of difficult men and poverty, as well as an exploration of the root causes of such cycles.