Sandy Ernest Allen (he/they) is a queer and trans journalist and author. His work tends to focus on gender and mental health. Sandy has written for many publications, including Esquire and The Cut. He's produced stories for the podcast 99% Invisible and appeared on This American Life. His first book, published by Scribner, is a work of reported literary nonfiction called A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story about Schizophrenia. It received critical acclaim, including from The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and O Magazine, and it was long-listed by NYU's journalism school as a top work of journalism of the decade. His late podcast, which focused on mental health and pop culture, was praised by The New York Times.

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Originally from a small beach town in Northern California, Sandy studied nonfiction writing at Brown University and the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program (MFA '12). Today he lives in the Catskills. He is often found in his garden, or baking bread, or singing at the piano. He is writing his next book, about the future of mental health care, as well as other projects, including for the stage and screen. He writes a newsletter on self-care called What's Helping Today.

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