Author Profile

Ellen Sweets

Author, former Austin resident

Ellen Sweets has reported for The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She wrote the 2011 memoir Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins, an account of her friendship with the famed Texas columnist.

Latest Columns

Demographics

Farewell, Austin

By Ellen Sweets, Dec. 22, 2015

I had always wanted to live in Austin, but the Austin I wanted to live in then is now slip-sliding away.

Law and Order

When grand jury duty calls

By Ellen Sweets, Feb. 6, 2015

Being on a grand jury is an experience that leaves you either eager to serve again, or eager to never serve again. Either way, it's important work that shouldn't be trivialized.

Demographics

Austin's "black problem" is a class problem

By Ellen Sweets, Sept. 2, 2014

Some say Austin — the only fast-growing large city in the country that's losing African-American residents — has a black problem. As I myself consider leaving, I realize that it's more complicated than that. Here's the truth: Elitism is Austin's new normal.