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.
Brian A. Klems
Brian A. Klems is a writer, husband, perennial fantasy sports underachiever and father of three lovely little girls (who, thankfully, look like their mother). He’s also the online editor of Writer’s Digest magazine and proud graduate of the journalism school at Ohio University. His parenting humor book Oh Boy, You’re Having a Girl: A Dad’s Survival Guide to Raising Daughters was called a “laugh-out-loud book” by the Chicago Tribune. It was also endorsed by humor writing legend Dave Barry. You can read more from him on his popular parenting blog (TheLifeOfDad.com) and connect with him on Twitter (@BrianKlems).
Artie Knapp
Ohio writer Artie Knapp is the author of over 40 published children’s literature works that includes books, videos, stories and poems. His children’s stories have been featured in several course books by HarperCollins, Orient BlackSwan, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, and The Chart Institute in Japan, among others. Additionally, Artie’s work has been published in various magazines and newspapers, as well as online publications. Among his writing credits are the children’s books Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand and Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest for a Cleaner Planet, a shortlist finalist for the Green Earth Book Award. He is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and graduated from Ohio University. Artie lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and daughter. To learn more about Artie and his work, visit him online at http://www.artieknapp.com.
Brenda Knight
Ohio native Brenda Knight began her career at HarperCollins, working with luminaries Paolo Coelho, Marianne Williamson, and Huston Smith. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year in 2014 at the American Library Association. Knight is the author of Wild Women and Books, The Grateful Table, Be a Good in the World, Random Acts of Kindness, and Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award. Knight also cocreated You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration and Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving with Nita Sweeney (Depression Hates a Moving Target.) Knight is a poet, writer, and editor. She is currently the Associate Publisher for Mango Publishing; she also served as President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, and is an instructor at the annual San Francisco Writers Conference, Central Coast Writers Conference, and wherever she can be with fellow writers. She resides in San Francisco, CA.
Jonathan Knight
Jonathan Knight has written nine books on Cleveland sports. Called “one of the most articulate and devoted sportswriters in Ohio” by the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight has been praised by the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and ESPN’s Grantland.com. He’s a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his two sons. You can learn more at http://www.jknightbooks.com and follow him on Twitter at @jknightwriter.
Mary Knight
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Mary has always enjoyed the power of a good story, whether it’s been as a children’s librarian, a freelance writer or a writer-in-residence teaching kids how to write. Several years ago, she decided to go back to school to learn how to write a novel. After graduating in 2013 from Spalding University’s MFA program in Writing, Mary completed her middle grade novel, SAVING WONDER, found the agent and editor of her dreams, and is now a published author with Scholastic.
Of all the things she appreciates in life, she especially values loving kindness, a good laugh, the wisdom of young people, and the ability to see the world through another person’s eyes. She believes this last quality, empathy, is the key to not only being a good friend and an awesome person, but being a good writer as well. “I must first step into the minds and hearts of my characters to discover their viewpoints,” she says. “Only then can I find the words to create their world.”
Mary and her husband now live in Lexington, Kentucky with their two cats.
Kip Knott
Jeff Knowles
Jeff Knowles was born in Cleveland in 1948 at the front edge of the Baby Boom generation. At age five, his family moved to Northfield—exactly half way between Cleveland and Akron and in the middle of the Cuyahoga River Valley that is at the heart of his book. Despite undergraduate and graduate degrees in history, he did not come to fully appreciate the historic and cultural significance of his home place until middle age. He retired in 2004 after a thirty-year research career in criminal justice, the last twenty-eight of which were served as Director of the Ohio Statistical Analysis Center in the Office of Criminal Justice Services. His written works have included two books, What of the Night? and Integrity with Two Eye, as well as articles for Ohio Magazine, Cincinnati Magazine, and several others.
Knowles and his wife of forty-six years, Lezlee, have three children: Kathi, Kimberly and Mark, and six grandchildren: Aaron, Andrew, Emma, Kate, Jack and Matthew. A diverse group of places have served as his homes, including Cleveland, Northfield, Carter County, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia and—for the past forty years, Columbus, Ohio.
Jen Knox
Jen Knox is the author of We Arrive Uninvited (Steel Toe Books, 2023), which won the Steel Toe Books Award in prose, and After the Gazebo (Rain Mountain Press, 2015). Her short fiction and creative nonfiction can be found in journals such as Saturday Evening Post and McSweeney’s Internet Quarterly. She founded and runs Unleash Creatives, a holistic arts organization based in Ohio. Learn more at: jenknox.com
Christine Kohler
An Ohio native, Christine (Rhodeback) Kohler is the author of 17 nonfiction and fiction books for children and teens. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, she lived in Japan and Guam, the setting for her debut novel NO SURRENDER SOLDIER (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster). She is also published in educational books, articles, poetry and photography.…
Read MoreAn Ohio native, Christine (Rhodeback) Kohler is the author of 17 nonfiction and fiction books for children and teens. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, she lived in Japan and Guam, the setting for her debut novel NO SURRENDER SOLDIER (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster). She is also published in educational books, articles, poetry and photography.
Kohler now lives in Texas with her husband, whom she met at Kent State University. Contact her at ckohler@christinekohlerbooks.com ; website http://www.christinekohlerbooks.com/ ; facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChristineKohlerbooks/ ; twitter https://twitter.com/christinekohle1
Wendy Koile
Wendy Koile has spent most of her life exploring the nooks and crannies of Ohio. When not traveling or writing, Wendy works full-time as the Director of Teaching and Learning at a community college in Ohio. She holds a masters degree in teaching and one in English. She currently has four books published with The History Press and is working on ideas for the next one.