Aaron Robertson is a writer, literary translator from Italian, and editor. His debut book, The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of 2024, a Washington Post Best Nonfiction Book of 2024, one of TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024, and one of the New York Public Library’s 10 Best Books of 2024. The Black Utopians was also recognized as a best book of the year by The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The New Republic, ELLE, Essence, Literary Hub, and the Chicago Public Library. Aaron’s translation of Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon (Two Lines Press, 2019) was shortlisted for various prizes, including the 2020 PEN Translation Prize and the National Translation Award.

Aaron’s translation of Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon (Two Lines Press, 2019) was shortlisted for various prizes, including the 2020 PEN Translation Prize and the National Translation Award, among others. He has contributed to two anthologies: Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation (Tilted Axis Press, 2022) and The Heart of a Stranger: An Anthology of Exile Literature (Pushkin Press, 2019). In 2021, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in translation. In 2024, he served as a judge for the 2024 International Booker Prize.

Aaron’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, n+1, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications.

He has addressed audiences at educational institutions such as Harvard University, Princeton University, and George Mason University; cultural venues such as City of Asylum and the Center for Fiction; literary festivals such as the PEN World Voices Festival and the Deep Water Literary Fest; and grassroots organizations such as the Detroit People’s Food Co-op and the Boston Ujima Project. His talks focus on the history of Black social movements, African American religion, utopian thought, literary translation, and the intersections of art and activism.

From literary festivals like PEN World Voices to academic institutions such as George Mason University and cultural spaces like the Center for Fiction, Aaron’s goal has always been to create engaging, thoughtful conversations that leave audiences with new perspectives.

Aaron Robertson holds a B.A. in Italian from Princeton University and an M.St. in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.