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.
- You are searching within category(ies): 2023
Frederick Luis Aldama
Frederick Luis Aldama, aka Professor Latinx, is an award-winning author, co-author, editor, and coeditor of over 48 books. He is author of several children’s books, including The Adventures of Chupacabra Charlie (published in English and Spanish) and Con Papá / With Papá as well as co-creator of the animation short, Carlitos Chupacabra, currently on a world film festival tour. In 2022 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and the Ohio State University’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion Hall of Fame.
Brian Alexander
I was born and raised in Lancaster, Ohio, home to the best county fair in the state, birthplace of William Tecumseh Sherman (sorry, Atlanta) and his brother John (author of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act). My grandfather, who knew both his churches and his bars, used to say that Lancaster had more of both than any town he’d ever seen. My mother and father met in Normandy, in 1944. She was an officer. He wasn’t. After the war they got married. My dad became a salesman. My mom became a mom. I have two brothers. I competed in sports that don’t impress girls — swimming, track, cross country. I voted in the great Rabbit v. Trix election, in favor of the Rabbit. I served a term as president of the Fairfield County Teenage Republicans. I’m pretty sure the other members elected me so they’d have more time to make out with each other. After crushing my mother with the news that I was not going to law school, I became a writer like I’d always wanted. I wrote my first short story at age five. It was supposed to be about Dan’l Boone, but if you were to read it you’d say it’s really more about Fess Parker and Ed Ames. Since then, I’ve written for many magazines and newspapers like The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Science, Outside, Esquire, and MIT Technology Review. I spent five years as Glamour magazine’s Jake columnist, then became a contributing editor there. I was also a contributing editor at Wired where I covered biotechnology. Today I write books, mostly, and contribute to the Atlantic as well as Outside and other magazines. A reporter once asked me why I write what I write. I wanted to say something all vision-y and wound up giving an embarrassingly pretentious answer. I write what I write in hopes you’ll be interested. I am. Things get under my skin and I need to scratch.
I once won an altar boy award. I’d like to say it was because of excellent incensing, or candle lighting, but it was mainly for showing up. I also won an essay contest in the eighth grade. They gave me a $25 U.S. savings bond. I’ve been a finalist for the National Magazine Award, and been recognized by the John Bartlow Martin Award for public interest journalism administered by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. I’ve also been honored with the Ohioana Book Award for non-fiction, Books By the Banks book festival, and been a finalist for the California Book Awards. Addiction to good movies, mainly old ones, is a monkey on my back. I surf. I drink my own cocktails. I’ve spent years trying to learn blues harp, so if someday you see me standing on a corner wailing “Hootchie Cootchie Man,” drop a few shekels in the hat, OK?
Check out his website: https://brianralexander.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
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.
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. 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.
Karina Bartow
Karina Bartow hails from 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. 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.
Tom Batiuk
In Tom’s own words: “Okay, here we go, gang, biography lite. I was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1947. After graduating from Kent State University in 1969 with a BFA and a certificate in education, I taught art in Elyria, Ohio at Eastern Heights Jr. High. In 1970, while I was teaching, I began drawing a panel for the teen page of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Those strips led to the creation of Funky Winkerbean in 1972. Funky is syndicated by King Features Syndicate to more than 400 newspapers nationwide. I skipped over a lot of hard work in the middle there, but that’s basically the gist of it for those of you doing term papers. In 1979. I launched John Darling into syndication working with Tom Armstrong, Gerry Shamray, and Bob Vojtko, in that order. Great artists all. John Darling was a talk show host who first saw the light of day in Funky, and who was quite literally killed off when his strip ended. Another character from Funky, Ed Crankshaft, soloed in his own strip in 1987, on which I work with the inimitable and talented Dan Davis.”
Lindsay Bonilla
Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and children’s book author from North Canton, Ohio. She lives with her husband, two wild and creative kids, and her dog, Blitzen. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in theatre and religion at Northwestern University, she fell in love with folktales and world travel. Lindsay has performed interactive theatre, shared stories and taught workshops all over the world. These experiences have made her passionate about building understanding and relationships across cultures while inspiring the imagination. Today, Lindsay performs audience-participatory multicultural folktales through her company, World of Difference, Ltd. and offers engaging author visits at schools, libraries, festivals, and beyond. Her books include Parents’ Choice Award winner Polar Bear Island, I Love You With All of My Hearts, The Note Who Faced the Music, The Storyteller (selected for the 2025 Choose to Read Ohio booklist) and You’ve Got This. Forthcoming titles include The Hole (Penguin, 2025) and Family Is Always (Penguin, 2026). Learn more at http://www.lindsaybonilla.com
Tim Bowers
Tim Bowers fueled his childhood imagination with comic book superheroes, television comedies and his grandparents’ many animals, including dogs, cats, chickens, a talking parrot, a house pig and a squirrel monkey, named Joe. It’s no surprise that Tim’s career in illustration would be filled with humorous stories and animal characters. Bowers has illustrated over fifty children’s books, including collaborations with Olympian Kristy Yamaguchi (Dream Big, Little Pig!) and singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins (Footloose). Several of Bowers’ books have been New York Times Bestsellers and he has received numerous state book awards, including the prestigious Texas Bluebonnet Award, for the book Memoirs of a Tortoise. When he isn’t creating art for a children’s book, he is probably strumming his ukulele and writing songs… filled with humor and animal characters. Tim and his family live in Ohio. To find out more about Tim and his art, visit http://www.timbowers.com.
Kristy Boyce
Kristy Boyce is the nationally bestselling author of Dating and Dragons, Dungeons and Drama, Hot British Boyfriend, and Hot Dutch Daydream. She played her first role-playing game in high school and has been friends with that group ever since. In fact, she even married the DM. Nowadays, she teaches psychology as a senior lecturer at The Ohio State University. When she’s not spending time with her husband and son, she’s usually writing, reading, or watching happy reality TV. Kristy lives in Pickerington, Ohio.