ANDREW AYDIN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a National Book Award winner, a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Honoree, a Printz Award winner, a Sibert Medal winner, a Walter Dean Myers Award winner, a three-time Eisner award winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Andrew is creator and co-author of the graphic memoir series, MARCH and RUN, which chronicles the life of Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. Co-authored with Rep. Lewis, MARCH was the first comics work to ever win the National Book Award. An Atlanta native, Andrew is a Turkish-American who was raised by a single mother. Andrew served as special assistant to Connecticut Lt. Governor Kevin B. Sullivan and district aide to Rep. John Larson before joining the staff of Rep. John Lewis in 2007 where Andrew served in several capacities including campaign communications director and digital director & policy advisor until his passing in 2020. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Andrew wrote his master’s thesis on the history and impact of Martin Luther King & The Montgomery Story. Andrew has appeared as a guest on the Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, and CBS This Morning, as well as National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, CBC and others. Andrew’s lecture with Rep. Lewis during the 2019 Vermont Reads statewide reading program was featured in the PBS special “The Story of March” released in 2020. In 2019, Andrew joined with Kelly Sue Deconnick, Matt Fraction, Valentine DeLandro, and Vaughn Shinall to found Good Trouble Productions (GTP) to produce innovative nonfiction graphic novel and multimedia projects, including RUN, a sequel series to the March trilogy, civics and history comic books for the New York City Department of Education, as well as “The Long March”, a large-scale custom art installation and online experience for Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont. Andrew frequently lectures at schools and universities, as well as participating in reading programs with incarcerated youth. Andrew is a judge for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, having also served previously in 2018 and 2019. Andrew is the co-writer of The March virtual reality immersive experience produced by Time, Inc and released in 2020. Some of his comic works include the Captain America story “Home of the Brave” in Marvel Comics Presents #3 from Marvel Comics, Truth and Justice #6, Batman: Gotham Nights #16 and Titans Together #3 from DC Comics as well as the 2020 Battle for the Vote comic PSA produced in partnership with Rock the Vote. Andrew’s prose works include articles for the Atlanta alt-weekly Creative Loafing and the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance Magazine.

John Robert Lewis was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district, serving since 1987 and was the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), playing a key role in the struggle to end segregation. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was one of the most liberal legislators. Barack Obama honoured Lewis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and they marched hand in hand in Selma on the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attack (March 7, 1965).