Ohio 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.

If you would like to know which Ohio authors and illustrators are available for school and library visits or workshops, visit our School & Library Visits page here.

We continue to add authors, so check back soon!

 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Photo of Bree Baker

Bree Baker

Bree Baker is a Midwestern writer obsessed with small-town hijinks, sweet tea, and the sea. She’s been telling stories to her friends, family, and strangers for as long as she can remember, and more often than not, those stories feature a warm ocean breeze and a recipe she’s sure to ruin. Now she’s working on those fancy cooking skills and dreaming up adventures for the Seaside Café mysteries.…Read More
Bree Baker is a Midwestern writer obsessed with small-town hijinks, sweet tea, and the sea. She’s been telling stories to her friends, family, and strangers for as long as she can remember, and more often than not, those stories feature a warm ocean breeze and a recipe she’s sure to ruin. Now she’s working on those fancy cooking skills and dreaming up adventures for the Seaside Café mysteries. Bree is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. Visit her online at breebaker.com.
Photo of David Baker

David Baker

David Baker is author of thirteen books of poetry, recently Whale Fall, published in July 2022 by W. W. Norton, and Swift: New and Selected Poems, as well as six books of prose about poetry. Among his awards are prizes and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, Mellon Foundation, and Poetry Society of America. Baker’s poetry and essays have appeared in American Poetry Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, and others.…Read More

David Baker is author of thirteen books of poetry, recently Whale Fall, published in July 2022 by W. W. Norton, and Swift: New and Selected Poems, as well as six books of prose about poetry. Among his awards are prizes and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, Mellon Foundation, and Poetry Society of America. Baker’s poetry and essays have appeared in American Poetry Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, and others. He served for many years as Poetry Editor of The Kenyon Review, where he continues to curate the annual eco-poetry issue, “Nature’s Nature.” Baker lives in Granville, Ohio.

 

Thomas E. Barden

Thomas E. Barden is Professor of English and Dean of the Honors College at the University of Toledo.Read More

Thomas E. Barden is Professor of English and Dean of the Honors College at the University of Toledo.

Cheryl Bardoe

Cheryl Bardoe combines her passion for writing and her curiosity about the world to create award-winning books for young readers. She has an MFA in writing for children and enjoys talking with young readers and their parents and educators at schools, libraries, literacy institutes and other events. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and has worked in public relations and in the exhibitions department at Chicago’s Field Museum.…Read More

Cheryl Bardoe combines her passion for writing and her curiosity about the world to create award-winning books for young readers. She has an MFA in writing for children and enjoys talking with young readers and their parents and educators at schools, libraries, literacy institutes and other events. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and has worked in public relations and in the exhibitions department at Chicago’s Field Museum. Over the years, Bardoe has written everything from five-word marketing slogans to policy reports, brochures, magazine articles, education pieces, direct mail letters, annual reports, press kits, newsletters, websites and text for a museum exhibition about dinosaurs from China. She’s even written signs telling people where to find the bathrooms! Bardoe grew up in Columbus, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbus Alternative High School. She currently lives in Chicago with her family.

Photo of Tom Barlow

Tom Barlow

Tom Barlow’s stories may be found in the science-fiction novel I’ll See You Yesterday and the literary short story collection Welcome to the Goat Rodeo, as well as in several anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013 and Best New Writing 2011. His work has also appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including Redivider, Temenos, The Apalachee Review, Hobart, Needle, The William and Mary Review, and Hiss Quarterly.Read More

Tom Barlow’s stories may be found in the science-fiction novel I’ll See You Yesterday and the literary short story collection Welcome to the Goat Rodeo, as well as in several anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013 and Best New Writing 2011. His work has also appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including Redivider, Temenos, The Apalachee Review, Hobart, Needle, The William and Mary Review, and Hiss Quarterly.

Photo of Rebecca Barnhouse

Rebecca Barnhouse

Rebecca writes books about—and inspired by—the Middle Ages. She earned her doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and medieval literature written in Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and other fascinating languages. A native of Vero Beach, Florida, she now lives in Ohio, where is a professor of English at Youngstown State University.…Read More

Rebecca writes books about—and inspired by—the Middle Ages. She earned her doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and medieval literature written in Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and other fascinating languages. A native of Vero Beach, Florida, she now lives in Ohio, where is a professor of English at Youngstown State University.

When she was growing up, reading was like breathing to Rebecca. It still is. She loved the Little House books, and fought with her brother over books in the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series. Later, she discovered science fiction and fantasy, from The Lord of the Rings to Arthur C. Clarke to Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea series and many, many other books that she and her best friend shared. They still do.

Photo by Carl Leet

Mike Bartell

Mike Bartell, a lifelong resident of Toledo, Ohio, covered numerous space shuttle missions during his award-winning thirty-five-year career as a reporter and editor at The Blade in Toledo. He also taught journalism at the University of Toledo for more than thirty years.Read More

Mike Bartell, a lifelong resident of Toledo, Ohio, covered numerous space shuttle missions during his award-winning thirty-five-year career as a reporter and editor at The Blade in Toledo. He also taught journalism at the University of Toledo for more than thirty years.

Photo of Karina Bartow

Karina Bartow

Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. Her debut novel, "Husband in Hiding" came out in 2015, followed by "Forgetting My Way Back to You" in 2018.…Read More

Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. Her debut novel, “Husband in Hiding” came out in 2015, followed by “Forgetting My Way Back to You” in 2018. She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!

To learn more, visit http://www.KarinaBartow.com

Photo of Vidas Barzdukas

Vidas Barzdukas

Vidas Barzdukas is an award-winning writer and director whose films have been screened at numerous U.S. film festivals, featured on PBS stations, and broadcast on television networks in Asia. In 2015, Vidas earned accolades from the Columbus Dispatch for his “stirring and amusing” stage adaptation of Rafael Sabatini’s 1922 swashbuckling novel Captain Blood. His film, the black-and-white fantasy “The New Mr.…Read More

Vidas Barzdukas is an award-winning writer and director whose films have been screened at numerous U.S. film festivals, featured on PBS stations, and broadcast on television networks in Asia. In 2015, Vidas earned accolades from the Columbus Dispatch for his “stirring and amusing” stage adaptation of Rafael Sabatini’s 1922 swashbuckling novel Captain Blood. His film, the black-and-white fantasy “The New Mr. Phillips,” won Best Narrative Short at the Oregon Film Awards, and he also won the Best Screenwriting award for his short film “Cold” at the Cincinnati Winterfilm Film Competition. Vidas was nominated for “Best Writer—Drama” by the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) for his work on the science fiction series Aidan 5, which was nominated for 19 IAWTV awards. Vidas is a writer on the Emmywinning Nite Owl Theatre starring Fritz the Nite Owl, which is a long-running, late-night staple of Central Ohio’s film scene. In addition to theatre and film, Vidas works in educational publishing, where he writes a wide variety of textbooks and classroom materials for K-12 students. His educational publishing subjects include reading, language arts, and history. Vidas’s passion for education also earned him a spot on the Emmy-winning children’s show Taylor’s Attic as its Educational Writing Consultant. A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Vidas lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.

Photo of Will Bashor

Will Bashor

Will Bashor, MBA, Ph.D., also has a B.A. degree in French and an M.A. degree in French literature from Ohio University. He earned his Ph.D. in International Studies from the American Graduate School in Paris where he gathered letters, newspapers, journals, and plays during his research for his trilogy on Marie Antoinette. Professor at Franklin University and Southern New Hampshire University, he is also a member of the Society for French Historical Studies.…Read More

Will Bashor, MBA, Ph.D., also has a B.A. degree in French and an M.A. degree in French literature from Ohio University. He earned his Ph.D. in International Studies from the American Graduate School in Paris where he gathered letters, newspapers, journals, and plays during his research for his trilogy on Marie Antoinette. Professor at Franklin University and Southern New Hampshire University, he is also a member of the Society for French Historical Studies. In 2013 he attended its annual meeting at Harvard University where he presented the political importance of the role of Leonard Autié, Marie Antoinette’s coiffeur, in the royal family’s unsuccessful flight to Varennes. Visit him at http://www.willbashor.com