IPLAC’s Creator of the Year Award is given to honor the creative achievements, primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area, that are eligible for patent, copyright, or trademark protection. This year, IPLAC is proud to recognize Alex Kotlowitz as the winner of the 2026 IPLAC Creator of the Year Award, for his achievements in the area of copyright, industry recognition, and strong community engagement.
Alex Kotlowitz is an author and journalist who, for forty years, has been telling stories from the heart of America — deeply intimate tales of struggle and perseverance. He received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, and a reporting position at The Wall Street Journal sent him to Chicago, where he has made his home ever since.
Alex Kotlowitz’s Creative Contributions Under Copyright
Mr. Kotlowitz is the author of four books, including the national bestseller There Are No Children Here — selected by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century and adapted into a television movie produced by and starring Oprah Winfrey — and his most recent, An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago, which received the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize. His documentary, The Interrupters, co-produced with Steve James, premiered at Sundance and aired as a two-hour special on PBS’s FRONTLINE, earning him an Emmy, a Cinema Eye Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and on This American Life, and his podcast Written Inside was named one of the top ten podcasts of the year by NPR. He has 11 registered copyright entries under Mr. Kotlowitz’s name in the U.S. Copyright Catalog spanning his major published works.
Alex Kotlowitz’s Impact on the Chicago Community
An American Summer examines the psychological toll gun violence takes on individuals and communities, bearing witness to the more than 14,000 people killed and 60,000 wounded by gunfire in Chicago over the past two decades. In September 2024, Mr. Kotlowitz became the 17th recipient of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award. His many honors include two Peabodys, two duPont-Columbia Awards, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the George Polk Award, the Harold Washington Literary Award, and eight honorary degrees. He has been a professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism since 1999.