Skerritt, Andrew

Author, essayist and educator, Andew Skerritt is the storytelling and content coach at the Tallahassee Democrat. Born in London, England, he grew up on Montserrat.  He studied journalism at Howard University and received a Master of Liberal Arts degree at Winthrop University. He also earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative non-fiction from the University of Tampa. A past winner of the St Patrick’s Creative Writing Short Story Competition, he has taught journalism at Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University and English at Tallahassee Community College.

His first book, Ashamed to Die: Silence, Denial and the AIDS Epidemic in the South (Chicago Review Press) was named one of the top ten books by African Americans in 2011, leading to interviews on the Tom Joyner Show, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, the BBC and public radio stations in Florida, Mississippi and elsewhere. His essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications including the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, Tampa Tribune, and USA Today. His reportage on poverty has been honoured with the South Carolina Press Association Public Service Award. Currently he is working on an essay collection entitled Writing and Returning. He lives in Tallahassee Florida with his wife, author, Laurina Osborne and their two children.