John Jeremiah Sullivan (born 1974) is an American writer, musician, teacher, and editor. He is a contributing writer for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', a contributing editor of ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', and the southern editor of ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

''. In 2014, he edited that year's ''The Best American Essays,'' a collection in which his work has been featured in previous years. He has also served on the faculty of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, Sewanee: The University of the South, and other institutions.

Biography

Sullivan was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

to Mike Sullivan, a sportswriter. His mother is an English professor. He earned his degree in 1997 from

The University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It ...

, in

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Winchester, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home ...

. His first book, ''Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter's Son'', was published in 2004. It is part personal reminiscence, part elegy for his father, and part investigation into the history and culture of the thoroughbred racehorse. His second book, '' Pulphead: Essays'' (2011), is an anthology of fourteen previously published magazine articles, with most of them "in substantially different form" for the book. Sullivan's essay "Mister Lytle", originally published in ''

'', won a number of awards, including a National Magazine Award, and was anthologized in ''Pulphead''. Sullivan recounts how he lived with

Andrew Nelson Lytle Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. Early life Andrew Nelson Lytle was born on December 26, 1902, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, part of a farming f ...

, when Lytle was in his 90s, helping him with house chores and learning some wisdom about writing and life. His original music appears on the self-titled album Life of Saturdays. In 2017, he helped lead a small group of 8th-grade students on a scavenger hunt to resurrect lost copies of ''The Daily Record'', the African–American newspaper at the center of a white supremacist coup d'état and massacre that occurred in his adopted home town of Wilmington, NC, in 1898. He and his team located seven total copies, all of which are digitized and available for view via the N.C. Digital Heritage Project. In 2019, the ''New Yorker'' published Sullivan's novella, "Mother Nut," on its website. Sullivan is married to Dr. Mariana Johnson, a film scholar and professor. They have two daughters.

Reception

In a 2025 interview American journalist

Wright Thompson Wright Thompson (born September 9, 1976) is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine''. He formerly worked at ''The Kansas City Star'' and ''Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans. Thompson's topics have covered a wide range of sports issues ...

stated that his favorite piece of journalistic writing is Sullivan's "The Final Comeback of Axl Rose".

Awards

* 2003

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

, ''Blood Horses'' * 2003

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

, Feature Writing * 2004

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, ...

, Nonfiction * 2011

, Essays and Criticism, "Mister Lytle. An Essay" (''The Paris Review'') * 2011

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

, ''Pushcart XXXV'', "Mister Lytle. An Essay" (''The Paris Review'') * 201
James Beard Foundation's MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
for "I placed a Jar in Tennessee," published in ''Lucky Peach.'' * 2015 ASCAP Foundation Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award * 2015 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Non-Fiction) valued at $150,000 * 2016 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, to complete ''The Prime Minister of Paradise'' * 201
Guggenheim Fellowship

Bibliography

Books

* * '' Pulphead: Essays'',

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

, 2011.

Essays and reporting

;''GQ''
"Too Much Information"
on

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...

, 2011.
"The Last Wailer"
on

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

, 2011.
"Back in the Day"
on

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, 2009.
"The Final Comeback of Axl Rose"
on

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

, 2006.
"Upon This Rock"
on a visit to a

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

festival, 2004.
"Good-Bye to All That"
on a visit to the Gulf Coast, post-

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, 2005.
"He Shall Be Levi"
on a visit to Alaska, to meet

Levi Johnston Levi Keith Johnston (born May 3, 1990) is best known as the twice-former fiancé of Bristol Palin and father of their son Tripp. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced that he ...

, 2009.
"American Grotesque"
on the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. The movement expanded in resp ...

, 2010.
"Violence of the Lambs"
on the coming war between animals and humans, 2011.
"Peyton's Place"
on living in the house used for the filming of '' One Tree Hill,'' 2011.
"Rick Owens, Fashion's Lord of Darkness, is Still Out There"
. on

Rick Owens Richard Saturnino Owens (born November 18, 1961) is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines. Early life and education Richard Saturnino ...

, 2018.
"Are I Peep?"
on the death of

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (; November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the hip-hop collective GothBoiClique, and is credited as being a leading figure of ...

, 2018.
"Diddy Opens Up About Biggie's Death and the Secret Project He's Working on with Jay-Z"
on

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

, 2018. ;''The New Yorker''
"The Ill-Defined Plot,"
on the history of the essay, 2014.
"David Foster Wallace's Perfect Game,"
2014 *
"Mother Nut,"
a novella, 2019. ;''Harper's Magazine''
"Horseman, Pass By: Glory, grief, and the race for the Triple Crown"
2003.
"A Rawness of Seeing: Denis Johnson writes the big novel"
2007.
"Unknown Bards: The blues becomes transparent about itself"
included in ''Best Music Writing'', 2009.
"Man Called Fran"
2023.
"Twain Dreams"
on

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

and

Percival Everett Percival Leonard Everett II (born December 22, 1956) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Distinguished professor, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has described himself as "pathologicall ...

's ''

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

'', 2025. ;''New York Magazine''
"Art-Shaped Box"
on

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, 2004.
"Dear Heather"
on

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, 2004.
"My Front Pages"
on

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, 2004. ;''The New York Times Magazine''
"You Blow My Mind. Hey, Mickey!"
on

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

, 2011.
"My Debt to Ireland"
on

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's Future, 2012, included in ''The Best American Essays'', 2013
"How William Faulkner Tackled Race — and Freed the South From Itself"
on

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

, 2012.
"Venus and Serena Against the World"
on

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...

and

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

, 2012.
"Where is Cuba Going?"
on

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

's future, included in ''The Best American Travel Writing'', 2013.
"The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie"
about blues singers

Geeshie Wiley Geeshie Wiley was an American country blues singer and guitar player who recorded six songs for Paramount Records, issued on three records in April 1930.Death Certificate for Thornton Wiley, dated December 13, 1931 According to the blues histor ...

and

Elvie Thomas L.V. Thomas (''née'' L.V. Grant, August 7, 1891 – May 20, 1979), better known as Elvie Thomas, was an American country blues singer and guitarist from Houston, Texas. Name Thomas's now most well-known designation "Elvie" is a corruption ...

, 2014.
"‘Shuffle Along’ and the Lost History of Black Performance in America,”
2016.

2016. ;''The Paris Review''
“Guy Davenport, The Art of Fiction No. 174
��, interview, 2002
"Mister Lytle"
an essay, 2010.
"Unnamed Caves"
on American cave art, 2011.
“The Princes: A Reconstruction”
2012
Annette Gordon-Reed, The Art of Nonfiction No. 11
2021
"Uhtceare"
(Sleep Stories), 2021 ''The Oxford American''
“That Don’t Get Him Back Again”
2010 * �
That Chop on the Upbeat”
2013
“Baby Boy Born Birthplace Blues”
2016
"Death Rattle"
2017 ''The Yale Review''
"Guest House"
2022 Sullivan has also written an introduction to a new edition of ''

The Great Shark Hunt ''The Great Shark Hunt'' is a book by Hunter S. Thompson. Originally published in 1979 as ''Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time'', the book is a roughly 600-page collection of Thompson's essays from 1956 t ...

'', an essay collection by

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prom ...

References

External links

Profile at The Whiting Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, John Jeremiah 1974 births Living people American magazine editors American male journalists James Beard Foundation Award winners The New Yorker people Sewanee: The University of the South alumni Writers from Louisville, Kentucky