The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
by | posted in: Ohioana Book Festival | 0

People all over central Ohio are crossing the days off on their calendars and getting their wish list together. But it’s not the first month of winter and the days are getting longer, not shorter. So what are we talking about?

It’s spring in Columbus and that means the Ohioana Book Festival is fast approaching! If you haven’t yet jotted down the date, now’s your chance:

SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We’re back at the Sheraton this year, the one at Capitol Square. There’s parking all over the place, including the garage for the Columbus Commons. In fact, the Sheraton borders the Commons. Easy to find. There’s also parking under the Capitol if you would like to park there. And you might find a spot on the street. It could happen! Most wonderful time of the year, right?

 


So after you get your car parked, be ready for fun! We’ll have food trucks, workshops, stuff just for kids and teens and BOOKS AND AUTHORS!

Our authors are the best and the Ohioana Book Festival is a great place to meet your favorites. You can talk to them and get a signed copy of their books, for one. We also try to seat authors in similar genres together so that you’ll get a chance to talk to more than mystery author (if you like mysteries) or book illustrator (if you like great drawings). Our authors also present during festival so be sure to check the schedule to find who is talking about what – and when and where! The Sheraton’s not that huge, but why risk missing hearing one of your favorites speak?

The Book Festival is also heavy on SHOPPING! That’s right! It’s America’s favorite pastime and makes this event even more like that other most-wonderful-time-of-the-year. Heck, you can even get a huge head start on the one that begins in December by getting waaaaay ahead of the holiday rush.

So don’t forget: SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Ohio is for book lovers
by | posted in: readiing | 0

The bad news: Valentine’s Day was yesterday.

The good news: Valentine’s candy is on sale and the cost of long-stemmed red roses is back down to pre-holiday levels.

The better news: In Ohio, love is always in the air.

February is still winter and the nights are still cold, speaking of the air. But you can warm up since Ohio is the home state of many romance writers. There are two state chapters of the Romance Writers of America, so it’s easy to find new authors if you want to combine your love of Ohio with your love of love. If you want to write romance novels or if you already do but would like some writer friends for hanging out and critiquing manuscripts, check out the Central Ohio Fiction Writers and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Romance Writers of America (NEORWA). These active groups host guest speakers, post frequently on social media, and have dedicated members who are published authors.

As we said, there are so many Ohio romance writers. Want to mention one of them here (wish we had space for everyone): Jenny Crusie. Jenny writes sharp, snappy dialogue and her stories are populated by equally intelligent heroines. Sometimes she writes on her own, but her collaborations are crackling good fun too! In Agnes and the Hit Man (doesn’t sound like romance is anywhere nearby, but it is!), Jenny wrote the dialogue for the female protagonist (Agnes) and her writing partner, Bob Mayer, wrote the male protagonist’s dialogue (the hitman). In addition to being a Wapakoneta native, Jenny’s won awards and earned her doctorate from Ohio State. Jenny also keeps up an active and engaging blog.

So even though the big day is over, the nights are still cold in Ohio. Warm up with a book about love!

 

Black History Month is something to celebrate!
by | posted in: Collection Highlights | 0

Black History Month was much shorter when it began in 1926: it was only a week long. The celebration was the brain child of historian and educator Carter G. Woodson, who spent quite a bit of his youth in Huntington, West Virginia – one of Ohio’s neighbors to the south. February was chosen since it’s also the month of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

A new documentary was just released last week reminded us of one our books in the collection. The documentary is I Am Not Your Negro, which brings to life the words of James Baldwin. The book is Your Negro Tour Guide: Truths in Black and White. Written by Kathy Y. Wilson, the title is based on Wilson’s exasperation with a white newsroom colleague. Sick and tired of questions about hip-hop groups, Wilson advised the colleague to get a black friend and said “I’m NOT your Negro tour guide.” And a column was born. Ms. Wilson’s collection of essay, published by Emmis Books in Cincinnati in 2004. The review in Publisher’s Weekly noted that “Wilson writes in a voice that can fairly simmer with disgust, indignation and a powerful blast of irony.”

We also want to share some images from events and the collection.

Way back when, one of the librarians at Ohioana wrote to Mr. Langston Hughes. He wrote back, alerting her to the existence of some writers that he thought she ought to know about.

We also want to share a picture of Rita Dove, who was honored by Ohioana in 2010 — The honor was all OURS, however. And to celebrate Ms. Dove a bit more, here’s a link to a recent interview that the Poetry Foundation recently published. Good stuff here. Good to read and take to heart.

We love our old books at Ohioana, not only for what’s between the covers but for the covers themselves. We love this book for the paisley print, like fabric, and for the photo of the sweet and handsome man. While Dunbar’s use of dialect in written speech has long fallen from use, we can still appreciate his intent to write with love and compassion as well as his commercial and  popular success.  As Nikki Giovanni said of Dunbar, “He wanted to be a writer, and he wrote.”

Hello World!
by | posted in: News | 0

Hello to our Ohioana friends and family! Hope you are doing well and taking time to read lots of great books by Ohioans, about Ohio, or both!

We’re re-animating the Ohioana blog and will provide weekly updates on all things Ohioana:

• The 2017 Book Festival
• Other Ohioana events
• Oldies but goodies from the collection
• The latest from Ohio authors
• Book-related events from around the state

There’s no shortage of topics here at Ohioana. A quick trip to the stacks or a glance at the new books provides all the fodder we need to generate ideas. For example, we’ll be honoring Black History Month as well as observing Valentine’s Day in February. Spring is just around the corner and Ohioana is well-fortified with books on plants and nature, so we’ll see what we can share with you in March. The Ohioana Book Festival is on April 8 this year, and we’ll have updates and follow-ups on the blog.

The blog also gives us a chance to give some love to our friends, like the fine folks at the Book Loft (our bookseller for 2017) and our friends at the new Gramercy Books in Bexley. We’ll also revisit the current issue of the Ohioana Quarterly just as a reminder in case you haven’t had a chance to read it.

And we want to hear from you! Want to say “hi” and tell us what’s up? Send us an e-mail at ohioana@ohioana.org.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you again next week!