Author photo credit: Divine Brujeria.
Here’s a press kit with a high-res headshots.
Here’s a shorter downloadable bio.

Sandy Ernest Allen is a freelance journalist, essayist, author and speaker. His work tends to focus on gender and on mental health from a human rights perspective. Sandy has contributed to many outlets including Esquire, The Believer, Eater, Cosmopolitan, The Boston Globe, The Cut, Them, 99% Invisible and This American Life, amongst others. Sandy’s work has been praised by many, including the The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, O Magazine and The New Republic. His debut book is an innovative work of nonfiction called A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story about Schizophrenia (Scribner). AKOMP was beloved by many critics, a wide range of fans and it was long-listed as a top work of journalism the decade in 2020 by NYU’s journalism school. Sandy’s been the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship, amongst other awards and honors.

Sandy is from a small beach town in Northern California. He holds two degrees in nonfiction writing (Brown undergrad, then an MFA ‘12 from the University of Iowa). He was then BuzzFeed’s Deputy Features editor (2013-2015). Nowadays, he lives in the rural Catskills Mountains where he’s often found … singing at his piano or baking bread or out in his garden. He now writes a monthly Garden Report for the popular local Catskill Crew newsletter.

You’re encouraged to subscribe to his free, self-care-focused newsletter, What’s Helping Today. You can follow him on Bluesky.