Dan "Sully" Sullivan
Dan “Sully” Sullivan holds an MFA/MA from Indiana University. His poems & performances have been featured on HBO Def Poetry Jam, WGN Morning News, & National Public Radio. Sully is a three-time Chicago Poetry Slam Champion, a recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award, the Earl S Ho Award for Excellence in Teaching Creative Writing & an Indiana University Writer in South Asia Recipient. His poems have appeared in numerous magazines, journals & anthologies. Sully’s first full-length book of poems, The Blue Line Home, is available from EM-Press.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
I was a founding member of the Spoken Word Club in 1999, my senior year. Before poetry, I didn’t feel much direction or inspiration in my personal life, scholastic endeavors, or future. The year after I graduated, I co-lead a poetry residency at OPRF alongside Avery R. Young. I haven’t left the classroom since. I became co-sponsor of the club and remained in that position for thirteen years. I now hold an MFA in creative writing and an MA in English from Indiana University. I’m working on my second book of poetry, am host of the Bloomington, IN Poetry Slam, and am the Associate Director of Students Services for Indiana University’s Advance College Project and Intensive Freshman Seminars. I have performed poems and taught workshops all over the world, with appearances on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and National Public Radio. It has been over two decades since I joined the OPRF Spoken Word Club and poetry remains an integral part of my daily existence.
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Poets: Gwendolyn Brooks, Federico Garcia Lorca, and June Jordan
Lyricists: Black Thought, Leonard Cohen, and Andre 3000
Connect with dan web
Writing Prompts
What’s a truth you can “live in?”
Where’s a place you love but can’t claim as home?
Whose quote do you relate to more, Rakim’s or Edward Sharpe’s? Write a poem showing why