Biography
Alex Kotlowitz is an American journalist, author and filmmaker. He is the author of several books, including the 1991 national bestseller There Are No Children Here, which was adapted as a television film produced by and starring Oprah Winfrey. His other works include The Other Side of the River (1998) and An American Summer (2019).
A former staff writer at The Wall Street Journal (1984–1993), Kotlowitz has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and This American Life. He co-produced the 2011 documentary The Interrupters with Steve James, based on his New York Times Magazine article; the film premiered at Sundance, aired on PBS’s Frontline and received an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award and a Cinema Eye Award.
Kotlowitz grew up in New York City and attended Wesleyan University. He is a professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
