Stefano Maroni

I’m Stefano Maroni — an Italian-American writer, observer, and quiet thinker. I was born in New Jersey to first-generation Italian immigrants, raised in the in-between spaces of family tradition and American reality. My early life was full of contrast: loud Sunday dinners and quiet afternoons with books, a tug-of-war between belonging and questioning.

I studied English and Philosophy in New York City, where I also began my writing life. For years, I worked as a freelance journalist and essayist, filing stories and personal pieces for publications like The Atlantic, Harpers, and The New Yorker. The city shaped me — sharpened my voice, taught me rhythm, urgency, resilience. But over time, the noise wore me down.

Eventually, I stepped away. I moved west to a small adobe house outside Taos, New Mexico, where I now live and write in solitude. I spend my days walking mountain trails, reading deeply, and trying to say one true thing at a time. My most recent book, The Distance Between Us, is a meditation on identity, masculinity, and what it means to belong in a world that feels increasingly fractured.

Through my Substack newsletter, I share essays and reflections on culture, silence, and the quiet pursuit of meaning. I don’t pretend to have answers — only questions worth asking.