John Kovács is a cultural historian and journalist whose work bridges archival research and on-the-ground reporting across the Americas and Central Europe. Born in Cleveland to Hungarian immigrants, John studied history and Spanish at Oberlin College and earned an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago, later completing additional research at El Colegio de México.
He has written long-form essays for regional and international outlets and served as a research fellow with the University of New Mexico’s Latin American Iberian Institute. His first book, Ash and Ornaments: Fire, Faith, and Everyday Life from Budapest to Puebla (2017), traced domestic rituals surrounding flame and loss across two continents. A recipient of a Fulbright research grant in Mexico and a Southwest Humanities Research Fellowship, John works in Spanish, Hungarian, and English, often collaborating with conservators and community historians to bring overlooked materials into public view.
John lives in Albuquerque, where he teaches documentary writing workshops, volunteers with a small archives collective, and mentors early-career reporters interested in historical investigations. He is currently at work on essays about vernacular songbooks, courtroom marginalia, and the ways ordinary objects—a comb, a rosary, a singed page—carry the weight of memory.
