Give the Gift of Ohio Lit

posted in: Support | 0

Happy Giving Tuesday! Now that Thanksgiving is over (it’s OK if you don’t want to eat any more turkey) and we can stick a fork in the unofficial shopping holidays, it’s time to get back to basics: supporting the people, places, and things that we care about.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.! And we’re asking you to “Give the Gift of Ohio Lit” today by supporting the Ohioana Library.

Every day, because of you, Ohioana connects readers and writers, bringing the joy of literature and storytelling to so many people through our outreach, awards, collections, and publications.

We  want everyone to know about the great work done by so many dedicated artist and writers; creative individuals with a strong Ohio connection. We want everyone to know the stories of Ohio’s people and places. And when you give, you make it happen.

Please help to Give the Gift of Ohio Lit, and put Ohioana on your list for giving today!

Our attitude is one of gratitude!

posted in: Holidays | 0

Here at Ohioana, we have a lot to be thankful for. We’re thankful that we get to work with books and people who love them, just for starters. And on this day before Thanksgiving, we want to send a shout-out to some very special folks:

  • To the political leaders who approve our budget. Nonprofit organizations like ours need friends at the Statehouse. We promise to never let you down and to always live up to the trust you place in us to be good stewards of resources that form the backbone of Ohioana.
  • To the Ohio writers. You know how people use the word “literally” when they mean “figuratively”? This is not one of those times. We LITERALLY can’t do this without you and we just love you to pieces! Thank for your support as we strive to support you! And keep writing!

To the supporters, members, and volunteers. Because you subscribe to the Ohioana Quarterly, because you help out at the Book Festival, because you keep reading, we keep going. Thank you for all of your help in 2017!

To the Ohioana Board. Through thick, through thin, you folks are always there, moving us forward and getting into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to keep a nonprofit organization relevant and healthy. Thank you for all of the lunch meetings, suggestions, actions, and innovations.

To book publishing houses. Thank you for your generous gifts of books, promotional materials, author pictures and book cover images, books (we said books, right?) and cross-promotions. We love it when you follow us on social media, and we love to follow back.

To book sellers. Thank you for keeping the wheels of commerce rolling. We’re all in this together.

To the staff. What happens when you get a book-loving staff together with a bunch of political leaders, Ohio writers, supporters/members/volunteers, board members, publishers and books sellers? You get Ohioana.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A season of awards and recognition

posted in: Awards, News | 0

We’re not surprised that Ohio writers are named over and over again as award winners, but it is nice to see those recognitions flow in!

Amazon released its list of the best books of 2017, and of course the list includes many Ohioans!

Fiction:

#1, Best Book of the Year:  Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng (Shaker Heights)

Children’s Books

#3: Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties, written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey (Cleveland)
Comics & Graphic Novels

#9: Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 2, written by Ta Neshesi Coates  and illustrated by Chris Sprouse (Columbus)
History

#15: Grant, by Ron Chernow. U.S. Grant was an Ohio native, so we count him as our talent!

 

Top 100 Print Books

#2:  Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng (Shaker Heights)

#48: Savage Country: A Novel, by Robert Olmstead

 

Goodreads (which is now owned by Amazon) also has a competition going on, reader’s choice style:

Fiction:

Celeste Ng for Little Fires Everywhere.

Science Fiction:

John Scalzi for The Collapsing Empire

Graphic Novels:

Brian K. Vaughan for Saga v. 6 and Paper Girls v.1

History and Biography

Ron Chernow for Grant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you in? National Novel Writing Month

posted in: Nanowrimo, Writing | 0

 

 

Today is Day One of National Novel Writing Month, the writing sensation that’s been sweeping the nation every November since 1999. So let’s all party like it’s 1999, fuel up on the java, and get some writing done!

In 2016, 384,126 participants, including 71,229 students and educators in the Young Writers Program, started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

There are six official events here in Central Ohio today to help get things started including virtual write-alongs and coffee shop meetings. Then there are mentoring and encouragement sessions, and places and spaces to just hang out and work. If you sign up, go to the “Regions” tab on the drop down menu to find both new friends and great locations. Glorisky! There’s over 7,000 people in Columbus, more than 5,000 in Cleveland, and over 400 in Black Swamp (I want to go THERE and write, don’t you?)

It’s easy to join as well as free — although like all good and worthwhile things, a donation is much appreciated to pay for outreach and engagement.

Write on!

 

Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.