About

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My name is Tara Murphy Sullivan. I’m probably supposed to write this bio in third person, but when I tried, it felt pretentious and unnatural, and I figured since this is my website I can write it however I want.

I live in Hull, Massachusetts: a small seaside town south of Boston. I’ve lived here since 1999; before that, I grew up in central New Hampshire. I attended Bridgewater State College, where I majored in English, and for two years edited the award-winning literary arts journal, The Bridge.

I write nonfiction, mainly personal essays and memoir. I’m currently hard at work on a memoir tentatively titled “The End of the World”. It begins with the sudden death of my teenage brother and tells the story of how this tragedy affected my family. I heard somewhere that a story about death must also be a story about life, and I believe that’s true.

Me & HDT
One time, I went to Walden Pond and posed with this statue of Henry David Thoreau. I still don’t know what was in his hand. If I’d read Walden, maybe I would know, but I haven’t, and probably never will.
"Want to hear a scary story?"
My sister Maeve captured this moment during an impromptu photo shoot. I told her I needed a professional picture, which she took, but not before I grabbed the desk light and asked her if she liked scary stories. I’m proud to say my sister almost peed her pants.