Kevin Sullivan (born November 5, 1959) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, best-selling author and senior correspondent at ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''.
Sullivan was a ''Post'' foreign correspondent for 14 years, working with his wife, Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan, as the newspaper's co-bureau chiefs in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Sullivan is well known for parachuting into faraway places, from Congo to Burma to Baghdad. He went to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to Saudi Arabia when King Abdullah died, and again after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. He has also served as the ''Post''
's chief foreign correspondent, deputy foreign editor, and Sunday and Features Editor.
Sullivan and Jordan have written three books together. Their most recent, “''Trump on Trial”'' chronicled the Trump impeachment, and '' Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland'' (with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus) was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
Sullivan is a frequent commentator on television and radio. He and Jordan have also been featured authors at the Library of Congress
National Book Festival
The National Book Festival is a literary festival in the United States organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001.
Background
In 1995 the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former l ...
in Washington, D.C.
Early life and career
Sullivan was raised in
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...
and graduated from the
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...
in 1981. After working for ''
The Providence Journal
''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
'' in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and the ''
Gloucester Daily Times
The ''Gloucester Daily Times'' is an American daily newspaper published Monday through Saturday mornings in Gloucester, Massachusetts by Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. The price is $0.75.
In ...
'' in
, Sullivan joined the ''Post'' in 1991.
[''The Washington Post']
Washington Post National: Staff - Kevin Sullivan
At the ''Post'', Sullivan has reported on six continents from more than 75 countries, including
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
.
Sullivan spent a year studying Japanese language and East Asian affairs at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in 1994–95, and he studied Spanish and Latin American affairs as a
John S. Knight
John Shively Knight (October 26, 1894 – June 16, 1981) was an American newspaper publisher and editor based in Akron, Ohio.
Early life and education
Knight was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, to Charles Landon Knight and Clara Irene Shivel ...
Fellow at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
from 1999 to 2000.
[Stanford University Knight Fellowships]
"Knight Fellowship Class of 2000"
.
Career recognition and awards
Sullivan and Jordan won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for a series of stories about the Mexican criminal justice system. They were also finalists for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, along with four ''Post'' photographers, for a series of stories on difficulties facing women around the world. The Pulitzer citation credited the series for "its sensitive examination of how females in the developing world are often oppressed from birth to death, a reporting project marked by indelible portraits of women and girls and enhanced by multimedia presentations."
Sullivan was also part of a Post team that was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Reporting from Saudi Arabia, Sullivan contributed to what the Pulitzer board called the Post's “commanding and courageous” coverage of the October 2018 murder of Saudi-born journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Sullivan and Jordan, with ''Post'' colleague
Keith Richburg, also won the 1998
George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...
for their reporting on the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
. Sullivan and Jordan have also won several other journalism awards, including those from the
Overseas Press Club of America
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain a ...
and the
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
.
Sullivan and Jordan are the authors of the critically acclaimed ''“Trump on Trial: The Investigation, Impeachment, Acquittal and Aftermath,”'' published by Scribner in August 2020. The book, with reporting contributions from Washington Post colleagues, was given a “starred” review by Kirkus, which said it “sets a standard for political storytelling with impeccable research and lively writing.” It was reviewed on the cover of the New York Times Book Review.
Sullivan and Jordan also wrote ''The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail'' . The book was given the
Christopher Award
The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...
in 2006.
They were also the authors—together with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus,
two of the women kidnapped and held for nearly a decade by Ariel Castro in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
—of ''Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland'', published by Viking in April 2015. The book reached the no. 1 position on ''The'' ''New York Times'' bestseller list on May 17, 2015.
Sullivan also contributed a chapter to ''Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power'', a Washington Post biography of then-candidate Donald Trump published by Scribner in 2016.
Sullivan and Jordan contributed a chapter to ''Nine Irish Lives: The Thinkers, Fighters and Artists Who Helped Build America,'' edited by Mark Bailey and published by Algonquin Books in 2018.
Works
Bibliography
*Mary Jordan; Kevin Sullivan (5 May 2005).
The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail'. Penguin Press.
*Amanda Berry; Gina DeJesus; Mary Jordan; Kevin Sullivan (27 April 2015).
'. Viking Press.
*Kevin Sullivan; Mary Jordan (25 August 2020)
Scribner. .
Selected works from 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning stories
In Mexico Hinterland, Life Beyond the LawTorture, A Ghost in Mexico's ClosetDisparate Justice Imprisons Mexico's PoorKidnapping is Growth Industry in Mexico
Selected works from 2009 Pulitzer Prize-finalist series on the difficulties facing women
Selected works from 2019 Pulitzer Prize-finalist series on the Jamal Khashoggi murder
Other selected works
*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/police-call-him-an-isis-recruiter-he-says-hes-just-an-outspoken-preacher/2015/11/23/924d8f6e-8a15-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html Police call him an ISIS recruiter. He says he's just an outspoken preacher.]
Life in the "Islamic State"*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-flogging-in-saudi-arabia-is-just-one-sign-of-a-new-crackdown-on-rights-activists/2015/01/20/e9c50f86-9da0-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html Flogging case in Saudi Arabia is just one sign of a new crackdown on rights activists]
18 stories from Syrian Exodus*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121225105628/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-12/world/35504094_1_saudi-women-young-women-saudi-arabia Saudi Arabia struggles to employ its most-educated womenbr>
Two years after Libya's revolution, government struggles to control hundreds of armed militiasIn Iraq, scenes of hope and fear seven months after U.S. troops’ departureNine portraits of Iraq without AmericaThe un-Celebrity PresidentLulu’s ChoiceFear, Hope and DeportationsVoices from Standing Rock‘Evil, evil, evil as can be’: Emotional testimony as Dylann Roof trial begins*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-a-president-trump-global-real-estate-deals-present-unprecedented-gray-areas/2016/05/30/beac0038-15fa-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html For a President Trump, global real estate deals present unprecedented gray areas]
Appearances and interviews
Shoulder to Shoulder: The Art and Chaos of Collaboration(Poynter Institute, 2005)
(''Washington Post'' TV, 2015)
Hope: Survival in Cleveland: 2015 National Book Festival(Library of Congress, 2015)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Kevin
1959 births
Living people
The Washington Post people
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners
Writers from Brunswick, Maine
University of New Hampshire alumni