John Paul Brammer

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John Paul Brammer
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma
OccupationWriter
Notable work¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons

John Paul Brammer is an American writer and artist. He writes the queer advice column ¡Hola Papi!, originally published in Grindr's magazine Into and subsequently via Substack, and is the author of the memoir: ¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons. In 2021, he became an opinion columnist at The Washington Post.

Early life[edit]

Brammer is Mexican-American and grew up in Cache, Oklahoma.[1] He attended Lawton High School, where his mother was a teacher, then University of Oklahoma.[2]

Career[edit]

Early in his career, Brammer wrote for the Huffington Post and in 2014 he joined MSNBC.[3] In November 2021, he joined The Washington Post as an opinion columnist, to write as well as illustrate.[4] Brammer is also an artist, often drawing inspiration from his Mexican-American background.[5]

In 2022, he won the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award.[6]

Advice column[edit]

Brammer first pitched his advice column "¡Hola Papi!" as "queer Latino 'Dear Abby' huffing poppers".[7] He pictured a "spoof" on the genre.[7] Writing in Vice, Maggie Lange said, "Instead, and almost instantly after he started writing it in 2017, '¡Hola Papi!' became too meaningful, kind-hearted, and warm to read as parody."[7] First published by Into, a magazine from the gay dating app Grindr, ¡Hola Papi! later moved to Condé Nast's LGBT magazine Them.[8] The advice column is now on Substack and is syndicated on The Cut.[9]

Memoir[edit]

Brammer's memoir ¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons was published by Simon & Schuster on June 1, 2021.[10] It is a series of fourteen essays, framed as advice columns on topics like dealing with childhood trauma or life in the closet[1] and drawing on his early life as a young gay person in a rural place.[2] In The New York Times, Matt Wille called the book "a master class of tone and tenderness, as Brammer balances self-compassion with humor."[1] In The Boston Globe, Gina Tomaine described the book as "a warm and funny read, and an ode to storytelling — to the possibilities it holds for both forgiving and reinventing yourself."[11] In Axios, Marina E. Franco says Brammer also "lovingly and humorously" probes the "question of what makes us Latino 'enough'."[12]

The memoir was optioned by Funny or Die for adaptation as a scripted series.[13]

Personal life[edit]

Brammer lives in Brooklyn, New York.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Wille, Matt (8 June 2021). "The Grindr Advice Column That Became a Memoir of Modern Queer Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Reddin, Gary. "Pride and Policy listening session hopes to spark change in Oklahoma legislation". The Lawton Constitution. Archived from the original on 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  3. ^ Sharp, Emily (October 22, 2014). "OU alumnus expresses personality through new writing job at MSNBC". OU Daily. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  4. ^ "John Paul Brammer joins Washington Post Opinions as contributing columnist". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  5. ^ Bellamy-Walker, Tat (June 1, 2022). "Latino writer and illustrator John Paul Brammer looks to blaze a trail for others". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  6. ^ "Bechdel, Hough, Peters among nominees for Triangle Awards" Archived 2022-04-22 at the Wayback Machine. ABC News, March 21, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Lange, Maggie (June 8, 2021). "Advice Expert JP Brammer Tells Us the Secrets to Being Hot". Vice. Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  8. ^ Yohannes, Alamin (June 4, 2021). "With 'Hola Papi,' advice columnist John Paul Brammer brings his readers into his life". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  9. ^ Klee, Miles (2021-06-07). "The radical help of the anti-advice column". Vox. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  10. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: ¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer. Simon & Schuster, $26 (224p) ISBN 978-1-982141-49-3". Publishers Weekly. January 27, 2021. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. ^ Tomaine, Gina (June 6, 2021). "'¡Hola Papi!' writer John Paul Brammer on his new memoir — and the enduring appeal of the advice column - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  12. ^ Franco, Marina E. (2021-06-26). "John Paul Brammer hopes readers feel "empowered" in his new book". Axios. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  13. ^ Grantham-Philips, Wyatte (2022-03-08). "Funny Or Die Options Coming Out Memoir 'Hola Papi' for Scripted Series". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  14. ^ Oliver, David. "John Paul Brammer transformed 'notoriously unhinged' advice column into memoir '¡Hola Papi!'". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2022-06-15.

External links[edit]