Sandy Ernest Allen

Sandy Ernest Allen (he/they) is a writer and speaker. His first book, a work of nonfiction called A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story about Schizophrenia, was published by Scribner (hardcover in 2018, paperback in 2019). 
AKOMP was critically acclaimed and long-listed as a top work of the decade by NYU's journalism school. Sandy's writing and speaking tends to focus on normalcy, especially to do with neurodiversity and gender. He is queer, nonbinary and trans.

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Sandy has written for many publications, including The Cut, Guernica, Lit Hub, Bon Appétit's Healthyish, and a column for Them. He has produced stories for 99% Invisible and been featured on This American Life, most recently in a story about his singing voice and Testosterone. Sandy's own podcast, Mad Chat, focuses on pop culture's messages about mental health. He has received other awards and honors, including a residency at MacDowell and an 11th-Hour Food and Farming Fellowship. His work has been optioned, and he's worked in the adaption of nonfiction IP for television. 

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Originally from a small beach town in Northern California, Sandy studied nonfiction writing at Brown and then the University of Iowa (MFA '12). From 2013 - 2015, he was a longform editor for BuzzFeed News. He also co-founded and ran the late literary magazine Wag's Revue.

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Today, Sandy lives happily in the Catskills Mountains of upstate New York, with his husband Rob Dubbin, their dogs, cats, and very many plants, both the inside and outside kinds. Sandy is often found watering said plants or baking bread or singing at the piano.

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Sandy is at work on the next book, about the future of mental health care. He's also writing other projects, including for the stage and screen. He is no longer on social media. You're encouraged to subscribe to his newsletter, What's Helping Today, about staying alive on earth.

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