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.

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
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Karen A. Patterson

Award winning author Karen A. Patterson has recently released Recipes from Ohio’s Must Places to Eat, the second book in her Ohio travel series and the companion to Eating Your Way Across Ohio. She has also written Herbs for All Seasons and a World War II memoir entitled Allies Forever: The Life and Times of an American Prisoner of War.…Read More

Award winning author Karen A. Patterson has recently released Recipes from Ohio’s Must Places to Eat, the second book in her Ohio travel series and the companion to Eating Your Way Across Ohio. She has also written Herbs for All Seasons and a World War II memoir entitled Allies Forever: The Life and Times of an American Prisoner of War. As a syndicated columnist for the Gannett and Thompson newspapers, she has penned hundreds of articles on travel, food, and gardening.

Photo of Emily Patterson

Emily Patterson

Emily Patterson is the author of So Much Tending Remains (Kelsay Books), a collection of poems chronicling the first year of motherhood. She received her B.A. in English from Ohio Wesleyan University—where she was awarded the F.L. Hunt Prize for Most Promising Creative Writer, the Marie Drennan Prize for Poetry, and the Class of 1870 Memorial Prize for Creative Nonfiction—and her M.A.…Read More

Emily Patterson is the author of So Much Tending Remains (Kelsay Books), a collection of poems chronicling the first year of motherhood. She received her B.A. in English from Ohio Wesleyan University—where she was awarded the F.L. Hunt Prize for Most Promising Creative Writer, the Marie Drennan Prize for Poetry, and the Class of 1870 Memorial Prize for Creative Nonfiction—and her M.A. in Literature for Children and Young Adults from The Ohio State University. Emily is the 2022 contest judge for the Minerva Rising Press poetry chapbook competition, “Dare to Be . . .” In 2021, her poem “On the Playground, I Think About How a Mother Is Like a Moth” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Emily’s work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, including Rust and Moth, Mom Egg Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, The Sunlight Press, Literary Mama, The Mum Poem Press, Thimble Literary Magazine, and elsewhere.

Photo of Donna Alice Patton

Donna Alice Patton

Donna Alice Patton is a gardening enthusiast from the Midwest who has won numerous ribbons and trophies for her flowers and vegetables. In the winter when she can't play in the dirt, she soothes her creativity by writing instead. She is the author of five books for children including: Saddle Up! Based on a real California horse camp and Snipped in the Bud: A Tale from the Garden of Mysteries.…Read More

Donna Alice Patton is a gardening enthusiast from the Midwest who has won numerous ribbons and trophies for her flowers and vegetables. In the winter when she can’t play in the dirt, she soothes her creativity by writing instead. She is the author of five books for children including: Saddle Up! Based on a real California horse camp and Snipped in the Bud: A Tale from the Garden of Mysteries. Find out more at: http://www.donnaalicepatton.com.

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Edith Pattou

Edith Pattou is the author of East, an ALA Notable Book; Fire Arrow, a Booklist Top Ten Fantasy Novel of the Year; and the New York Times best-selling picture book Mrs. Spitzer's Garden. She lives in Columbus, Ohio. Visit her online at www.edithpattou.com and follow her on Instagram: @ediepattou and Twitter: @epattou.…Read More

Edith Pattou is the author of East, an ALA Notable Book; Fire Arrow, a Booklist Top Ten Fantasy Novel of the Year; and the New York Times best-selling picture book Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden. She lives in Columbus, Ohio. Visit her online at http://www.edithpattou.com and follow her on Instagram: @ediepattou and Twitter: @epattou.

 

Photo of C. F. Payne

C. F. Payne

C. F. Payne has illustrated more than a dozen picture books, including the New York Times bestselling Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark Kelly, the Texas Bluebonnet winner Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, written by Phil Bildner, and the New York Times bestsellers The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, both by John Lithgow.…Read More

C. F. Payne has illustrated more than a dozen picture books, including the New York Times bestselling Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark Kelly, the Texas Bluebonnet winner Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, written by Phil Bildner, and the New York Times bestsellers The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, both by John Lithgow. He teaches at the Columbus College of Design, where he is the chair of the Illustration Department. Payne lives with his wife and children in Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit him online at CFPayne.com.
Sue Macy is the acclaimed author of many books for young readers, among them the award-winning Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom; Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map; and Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly. A former editor at Scholastic, she lives in Englewood, New Jersey.

Photo of Shelley Pearsall

Shelley Pearsall

Shelley Pearsall is the nationally-recognized author of seven fiction novels for readers in grades 4 to 8. Her novels, All of the Above, and The Seventh Most Important Thing, were ALA Notable Books. Trouble Don't Last was the winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and an Ohioana award winner. Shelley's books are frequent choices for community and all-school reads.…Read More

Shelley Pearsall is the nationally-recognized author of seven fiction novels for readers in grades 4 to 8. Her novels, All of the Above, and The Seventh Most Important Thing, were ALA Notable Books. Trouble Don’t Last was the winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and an Ohioana award winner. Shelley’s books are frequent choices for community and all-school reads. They cover a wide variety of topics including art, U.S. history, geometry–and even, Elvis! Shelley is a former teacher with a Master’s in Education and she is a frequent school presenter.

Photo of Carlotta Penn

Carlotta Penn

Carlotta Penn has loved writing since she was a young girl. At age eight she wrote in her diary, “I love to write books. I am an author.” Now all grown up, she has written several picture books, including Bright Boy ABCs and The Turtle With an Afro series. She plans to write many more.…Read More
Carlotta Penn has loved writing since she was a young girl. At age eight she wrote in her diary, “I love to write books. I am an author.” Now all grown up, she has written several picture books, including Bright Boy ABCs and The Turtle With an Afro series. She plans to write many more. Carlotta lives in Columbus, OH with her husband and three children.
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David Pepper

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Photo of Nomar Perez

Nomar Perez

Nomar Perez was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, in the city of Ponce, and moved with his parents and five siblings to Ohio when he was ten. Nomar is heavily influenced by all types of media, most especially animation, puppetry, and computer art. He studied computer animation and painting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and since then has worked as a designer, illustrator, and art director on social expression products in the categories of humor, children, and young adults.…Read More

Nomar Perez was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, in the city of Ponce, and moved with his parents and five siblings to Ohio when he was ten. Nomar is heavily influenced by all types of media, most especially animation, puppetry, and computer art. He studied computer animation and painting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and since then has worked as a designer, illustrator, and art director on social expression products in the categories of humor, children, and young adults. Nomar has also illustrated numerous children’s board books and school publishing books and is a recipient of the Pura Belpré Author & Illustrator Honor for his picture book, Coquí in the City.

Photo of Morgan Perryman

Morgan Perryman

Morgan Perryman is a new author from the Midwestern United States. She is a true bibliophile, who has always had a love for books. Morgan has a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's Degree in English, who previously taught 7th and 8th-grade reading and writing.She is a mother of three and comes from a huge family.…Read More
Morgan Perryman is a new author from the Midwestern United States. She is a true bibliophile, who has always had a love for books. Morgan has a Master’s in Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in English, who previously taught 7th and 8th-grade reading and writing.She is a mother of three and comes from a huge family. Her early writer influences include a variety of classic and modern writers, including Jane Austen and Tamora Pierce.