Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan is a Professor of English and Secondary Professor in Women's and Gender Studies at Georgetown University's College. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University, and a B.A. in Afro-American Studies from Smith College. Her work bridges creative writing and critical scholarship, focusing on intersections of language, embodiment, and Black queer feminist experience. Sullivan has received prestigious fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and others. Her publications include the novel Big Girl, short story collection Blue Talk and Love, and critical study The Poetics of Difference, alongside essays in journals like American Literary History and GLQ.

• Research Interests: Queer Black feminist literary forms, diasporic poetics, and critical race theory.
• Awards: MLA’s William Sanders Scarborough Prize, Lambda Literary’s Judith Markowitz Award, and Balcones Fiction Prize.

Her creative work appears in Kenyon Review, Callaloo, and BEST NEW WRITING, while her critical essays engage themes of bodily life and cultural memory. Sullivan’s interdisciplinary approach reflects her Harlem roots and contributions to both literary scholarship and contemporary fiction.