Author Profiles
Ohio has a rich literary heritage as well as some wonderful contemporary authors. Learn more about them here! You can sort by various categories and see who has participated in our annual book festival by using the category search on the left, or search by keyword (including partial author names) by using the search field on the right.
Rachele Alpine
One of Rachele Alpine’s first jobs was at a library, but it didn’t last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she’s a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit. Rachele is a high school English teacher by day, a wife and mother by night, and a writer during any time she can find in between. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where she writes books for children, tweens, and young adults. Visit her at rachelealpine.com.
Jeff Alt
Jeff Alt is a celebrated author and avid outdoor enthusiast. His other books include: Four Boots-One Journey, Get Your Kids Hiking, and A Walk for Sunshine. Each of his books are award-winning and have received high praise from readers and educators all over the world. Jeff is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). Jeff’s expertise and books have been featured in Scholastic Parent & Child, Backpacker, Discoverchannel.com, ESPN, Hallmark Channel and more. He has walked the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail with his wife; he carried his 21-month old daughter across Ireland, and his son was on the Appalachian Trail at six weeks of age. Jeff has spent over 20 years perfecting his ability to engage kids to learn as an educator. He has now combined his educational experience with his outdoor talents in writing The Adventures of Bubba Jones series. Learn more at: http://www.jeffalt.com
Lisa Amstutz
Lisa Amstutz is the author of more than 150 books for children. She holds degrees in Biology and Environmental Science. A former outdoor educator, she specializes in topics related to nature, sustainability, and agriculture. Lisa lives with her family on a small farm in Ohio. https://www.lisaamstutz.com
Jarod K. Anderson
Jarod K. Anderson has three best-selling collections of nature poetry, Field Guide to the Haunted Forest, Love Notes from the Hollow Tree, and Leaf Litter. His memoir Something in the Woods Loves You (Timber Press/Hachette 2024) explores his lifelong struggle with depression through a lens of love and gratitude for the natural world. Jarod created and voices The CryptoNaturalist podcast, a scripted audio-fiction show about real adoration for imaginary wildlife. Jarod has gained a large audience (over 250K followers) across social media platforms with his vivid appreciations of nature and his open, vulnerable discussions of mental health. He has had an eclectic career, ranging from teaching college English courses after earning his MA in literature, to managing marketing and events for academic and ecological nonprofits. He lives in Ohio between a park and a cemetery. Learn more at JarodKAnderson.com
Pamela R. Anderson
Pamela R. Anderson is a traveler, blues music lover, yoga practitioner, and former public radio fundraiser who grew up in Ohio’s Steel Valley. Her chapbook Just the Girls: A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees was published by The Poetry Box in 2020; Finishing Line Press published her chapbook Widow Maker in 2021, and Kelsay Books/Daffydown Dilly Press published her book of poems for children: The Galloping Garbage Truck. Much of her writing focuses on the Holocaust and her father’s WWII service in the 82nd Airborne; her Holocaust poem “My Brother’s Coat” won an AWP Intro Journals Project award. Anderson’s poetry has appeared in JennyMag.org, Atticus Review, Volney Road Review, and elsewhere. She is a graduate of the NEOMFA Program.
Jodi Andes
Jodi Andes’ debut, Master of Deceit, is a true crime book about John Donald Cody, one of the most formidable conmen in modern history, who defrauded veterans of $100 million using the name Lt. Commander Bobby Thompson, and stayed one step ahead of law enforcement for 25 years. By time law enforcement could catch him, Cody would be wanted for frauds, stolen identities, questioning in espionage and accused in one of the greatest security breaches in White House history. Master of Deceit focuses on Cody’s crimes, and the mysteries surrounding political access he gained as the fake lieutenant commander. It is slated to be published in March 2020 through Micro Publishing Media, Inc.
The book began attracting media attention before publishing. The book was featured on the Perfect Scam podcast, an AARP podcast hosted by the author of Catch Me If You Can, by Frank Abagnale. She has been asked to do two magazine articles about the book – one for a historical Ohio magazine and the other, for a trade publication for members of the Arizona Attorney Bar Association.
Ms. Andes spent much of her career as a newspaper reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. She left in 2009 on the verge of the newspaper’s downsizing, though she later returned to journalism to head up an investigative team for WBNS-10TV news for two years. Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray hired Ms. Andes to serve as his senior investigator, which is where she was assigned to work on the Bobby Thompson case. She has also spent more than five years doing communications for governmental agencies. She currently is a Public Information Officer for the Franklin County Commissioners. She lives in Pickerington with her two sons and their two dogs.
Nin Andrews
Nin Andrews’s poems and stories have appeared in many literary journals and anthologies including Ploughshares, The Paris Review, Best American Poetry (1997, 2001, 2003, 2013), The Best American Erotic Poems from 1800, The Best American Prose Poems, No Boundaries, Sudden Stories: A Mammoth Anthology of Miniscule Fiction, The House of Your Dreams: An International Collection of Prose Poems, Seriously Funny, and Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence. The recipient of an individual artist grant from the Ohio Arts Council in 1997 and again in 2003, she is the author of six chapbooks and six full-length poetry collections. Her book, Why God Is a Woman, won the 2016 Ohioana award in poetry. Her next book, Miss August, will be published in the spring of 2017. The mother of two grown children, she lives in Poland, Ohio, with her husband, a physics professor and bass player, and their Boston terrier, Froda.
Dan Andriacco
Dan Andriacco is the author of ten mystery novels. His primary series, featuring Professor Sebastian McCabe and brother-in-law Jeff Cody, is set in a small college town in southern Ohio. The latest published in that series is Erin Go Bloody, about the hijinks surrounding a St. Patrick’s Day parade. The final novel in his Enoch Hale trilogy of historical mysteries, written with a co-author, is The Egyptian Curse. Dan has also been a mystery reviewer and taught non-credit classes in mystery fiction. He once won a bet with a colleague that he could write a novella in less time than it took her to read one of his novels. You can read more about Dan on his blog, Baker Street Beat, at danandriacco.com.
Fred Andrle
Fred Andrle is a poet and playwright. He is the author of the poetry collections: What Counts and Love Life. His poetry was featured in the anthology Prayers to Protest: Poems that Center and Bless Us, and his poem “The Book,” was read by Garrison Keillor on “The Writer’s Almanac.” Fred has received playwriting and poetry fellowships from the Greater Columbus Arts Council.…
Read MoreFred Andrle is a poet and playwright. He is the author of the poetry collections: What Counts and Love Life. His poetry was featured in the anthology Prayers to Protest: Poems that Center and Bless Us, and his poem “The Book,” was read by Garrison Keillor on “The Writer’s Almanac.” Fred has received playwriting and poetry fellowships from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. Fred is an Associate at the Ohio State University Humanities Institute. Before his retirement in 2009, Fred spent twenty years at WOSU, the NPR affiliate in Columbus, as Executive Producer and Host of “Open Line,” a daily public affairs talk show. Prior to that, he was Executive Producer for WOSU-TV. He has received Ohio Public Broadcasting and Regional Emmy awards for his radio and television programs. The Ohio Humanities Council gave Fred their 2010 Bjornson Award for Distinguished Service in the Humanities. Fred taught courses in mass media at Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio Dominican University, and Northern Arizona University. He holds a Master’s Degree in Communication from Stanford.
Breshea Anglen
Breshea is a fantasy author with a penchant for penning stories with magical realism, adventure, and romance, centering BIPOC characters. She attended BGSU and obtained both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Education. After graduating from BGSU in 2016, Breshea returned to Cleveland and began her career as a middle school English teacher. During this time, she self-published her first novel, A Shrouded Spark. Breshea resides in Cleveland with her daughter and family. Check out her website at: https://www.bresheaanglen.com.