Journalist and narrative historian Aran Shetterly has spent decades writing about people who dream of changing the world and have the conviction and courage to try. His latest book MORNINGSIDE: The 1979 Greensboro Massacre and the Struggle for an American City’s Soul (HarperCollins, 2024) has been called “brilliant” (Publisher’s Weekly), “essential” (Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow), and “revealing” (Dr. Reverend William Barber II). His previous book, THE AMERICANO, a new account of the Cuban Revolution, was praised as “history at its best” (National Book Award winner Carlos Eire).
He founded the English-language magazine Inside Mexico, which became the most widely distributed English-language periodical in Mexico, publishing long-form pieces on NAFTA, the Mexican-American border, African-Mexicans, Mexico City’s art scene, and many other topics.
Aran has worked as an independent editor and writing coach at Aspen Words, and since 2003, he’s collaborated with the Maine-based arts and education organization Americans Who Tell the Truth. He grew up in rural Maine, studied English Literature and Spanish Language and Culture at Harvard College, and earned an MA in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine. He lives in Charlottesville with his son and wife, the author Margot Lee Shetterly.