Journalist · Poet
Editor · Communications Professional
Donovan
Harrell
Pittsburgh-based storyteller covering mental health, race, art, and the systems that shape everyday life.
Photo © 18ricco
Journalist · Poet
Editor · Communications Professional
Pittsburgh-based storyteller covering mental health, race, art, and the systems that shape everyday life.
Photo © 18ricco
Selected Work
A decade of reporting across national newsrooms and community journalism. Race and politics, art and equity, the people and places that define a city.
h Magazine / The Heinz Endowments
The Education Divide
Golden Quill Award winner. A look at the systems shaping educational access and equity across the region.
↗h Magazine / The Heinz Endowments
2020 Vision
Golden Quill Award winner. Examining whether Pittsburgh's census strategy would reach the communities that needed to be counted.
↗h Magazine / Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures
A Cultural Quilt: Kente Arts Alliance
How one Hill District organization uses jazz and weaving to build community across generations.
↗h Magazine / Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures
Lift Every Voice: Afro-American Music Institute
Forty years as the Hill District's cultural backbone. What it means to document a legacy that shaped a city.
↗Pittwire / University of Pittsburgh
Mackenzie Evans: A Long Road to Commencement
A graduating senior's journey through adversity, social work, and what it means to finally walk across the stage.
↗Full Archive
More on Muck Rack →
McClatchy DC, Tampa Bay Times, Politico, University Times, and more.
Creative Nonfiction / Criticism
When he's not reporting, Harrell writes cultural criticism at the intersection of hip-hop, anime, and video games. A lifelong devotee of action games, metroidvanias, RPGs, indie titles, and fighting games, his work at The Punished Backlog explores narrative, identity, and what it means to find yourself in the worlds you play.
The Punished Backlog
Ghost of Champloo: The Sound of Yōtei's Battlecry
On Shinichirō Watanabe's Samurai Champloo and what Ghost of Yōtei's "Watanabe Mode" actually delivers.
↗The Punished Backlog
Possessor(s) Review: Heart Machine Finds Humanity in a Broken World
Heart Machine's metroidvania as narrative triumph. On grief, broken systems, and what games owe their players.
↗The Punished Backlog
How 'Good Knights Sleep' Became My Favorite Fallout Companion
A personal essay on ritual, calm, and why a Fallout ASMR channel became a lifeline in a turbulent year.
Recognition
FAB 40 Under 40
New Pittsburgh Courier
First Place — "Colorful Forms: Side A"
Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh Poetry Competition
Display Award — "Colorful Forms: Side B"
Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh Poetry Competition
"Black Records" — accepted for publication
ARC Magazine, Inaugural Issue
Golden Quill — Excellence in Written Journalism: Education
Press Club of Western Pennsylvania
Golden Quill — Excellence in Written Journalism: Public Affairs
Press Club of Western Pennsylvania
Ray Sprigle Memorial Award
Press Club of Western Pennsylvania
About
Donovan Harrell is an award-winning journalist, poet, and communications professional based in Pittsburgh. His work spans accountability reporting, community storytelling, and creative writing across politics, race, art, and the overlooked corners of everyday life.
As communications specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, he writes for Pittwire and Pitt Magazine, translating research and human experience into public-facing narrative. He freelances for The Heinz Endowments' h Magazine, covering cultural institutions, housing, urban farming, and civic life. As secretary of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, he advocates for journalists navigating a contracting industry.
Before Pittsburgh, he reported for McClatchy DC, the Tampa Bay Times, and Politico. He graduated summa cum laude from Florida A&M University in 2016.
Photo © Nichole Faina
Poetry