Elizabeth Owuor is an author, freelance journalist, and retired vinyl DJ whose nonfiction blends archival research, Black music history, and personal narrative. Her debut book, A Brawling Woman in a Wide House, is forthcoming from Bloomsbury (US) and Canongate (UK) in 2026. The work explores how the Black American blues tradition took flight to Europe in the 1960s, intertwining the narratives of pioneer musicians with her own audiophile coming-of-age in Obama-era Europe.
She has spun vinyl all around the globe and is co-founder of Black Rhythm Happening, an evening dedicated to unearthing gems from the sonic vaults. Her journalism has been published in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Germany's Deutsche Welle. Her writing has been supported by fellowships from MacDowell, Hedgebrook, UCross, and the California Arts Council.
While at MacDowell, she worked on a nonfiction book project.
Portrait by Flavia Elisa Mora
