Gwydion Suilebhan—who is currently working, with co-author Steven Gimbel, on a social history of Jewish American comedians and comedy—has enjoyed what can only be described as an eclectic non-fiction publishing history.
Journalism: While he was still an undergraduate, Suilebhan began a short career as a reporter. In addition to serving as the assistant sports editor of The Daily Northwestern, Suilebhan covered amateur sports (from jet ski races to the Chicago Marathon) for the now-defunct monthly Windy City Sports. After graduating, he wrote book reviews for the Baltimore City Paper and restaurant reviews for the Hill Rag.
Education: Shortly thereafter, Suilebhan shifted to writing educational content. He published a variety of writing curricula for Kaplan and Sylvan Learning, in addition to penning the Foreword to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style. He contributed dozens of entries to Earth Explorer, a long-gone CD-ROM encyclopedia of the environment, and wrote lesson plans for Discovery Channel, US News & World Report, Toshiba, and AOL, among others.
Theater: For more than 15 years, Suilebhan has written extensively about theater, with a particular focus on the ways in which the art form intersects with technology. He published a long series of articles on HowlRound—including this much-shared manifesto that led to the creation of the New Play Exchange—and several similar articles on 2am Theatre. Suilebhan was also the co-author, with Jason Loewith, of a chapter in the Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy. His most recent byline appears (in support of Chiara Ricciardone) in The Philosopher.
Other Publications: While not non-fiction, two of Suilebhan’s plays—Abstract Nude and Cracked—have been published by Original Works. His short play Vertical Constellation with Bomb was anthologized in the Best American Short Plays 2014-15.
