About Olive Sullivan

Poet, Playwright, Author, Bookbinder, Rambler

First, there was the road: My earliest memory, looking out the back window as we left Illinois for our new home in Kansas.

Then there was color: Standing on a chair in the laundry room, using the dryer as an easel as I painted flamboyant flowers in bright tempera colors.

And then there were stories: My grandmother, telling me about her childhood, books my parents read to us, and, soon, books I read to myself. The stories stuck. And landscape, art, and music wound their way through them.

I don’t remember learning to read. But I remember reading, and loving everything about books: their covers, their illustrations, their stories about my friends Pooh and Ratty and Laura and Bilbo and Huck; the words themselves, writing them out, fonts, and letters; the smell and feel of them; the sacred temple where they were kept, where I was allowed to take out as many books as I could read in a week.

It seems inevitable that I would become a writer. And I did.

Photo Credit: Jessica Riley

Artist’s Statement

I value collaboration and creativity. My philosophy can be summed up in one word: yes.

I said yes to bookbinding (writing adjacent!) so hard that I opened a brick and mortar studio here in Pittsburg, Kansas, where I work with my partner Angel Abshire, who brings letterpress and printmaking skills to the mix.

I enjoy making things, from painting canvas to painting the living room, writing and binding books to making jewelry. I’m also a fan of hiking, canoeing, fishing, and snowshoeing. And dogs. There are always dogs.

I’ve spent a lifetime surrounded by words, reading everything from Nancy Drew to Shakespeare, writing poetry and fiction, working as a news writer and teaching creative writing, journalism, and literature.

My career has taken me around the world. As a student, I spent two semesters in England. Later, I studied Spanish in Costa Rica and practiced speaking it in Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Paraguay, and Argentina. Coming full circle, I led student groups to Paris for an international media seminar and taught in Asunción, Paraguay, as part of the Kansas-Paraguay Partners program.

I’d love to work with you in whatever capacity serves you best, whether that’s writing, creating a personalized journal, repairing a beloved book, or offering workshops on writing, bookbinding, inspiration, and more to your group.

Press Clippings