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): 2024
Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first full length poetry collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, was released in June 2016 from Button Poetry. It was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, and was nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. With Big Lucks, he released a limited edition chapbook, Vintage Sadness, in summer 2017 (you cannot get it anymore and he is very sorry.) His first collection of essays, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was released in winter 2017 by Two Dollar Radio and was named a book of the year by Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Paste, CBC, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork, and The Chicago Tribune, among others. He released Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest with University of Texas press in February 2019. The book became a New York Times Bestseller, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. His second collection of poems, A Fortune For Your Disaster, was released in 2019 by Tin House, and won the 2020 Lenore Marshall Prize. In 2021, he released the book A Little Devil In America with Random House, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. The book won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Gordon Burn Prize. Hanif is a graduate of Beechcroft High School. Check out his website: http://www.abdurraqib.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
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 Arnold
David Arnold is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Mosquitoland, I Loved You in Another Life, The Electric Kingdom, Kids of Appetite, and The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. He has won the Southern Book Prize and the Great Lakes Book Award, and was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for his debut. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with his wife and son. Learn more at davidarnoldbooks.com and follow him on Instagram @iamdavidarnold.
Jashar Awan
Growing up outside of Washington, DC, Jashar Awan loved drawing and reading. In fact, he still does. For many years, he drew illustrations for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, American Medical News, and Columbia Journalism Review. Jashar made his debut as an author/illustrator with What A Lucky Day! for Norton Young Readers. Publisher’s Weekly spotlighted him as one of the most promising children’s debut authors of Fall 2020. His second book, Only Ants for Andy, was selected for the 2023 & 2024 Choose to Read Ohio Booklist. Strum & Drum: A Merry Little Quest from Tundra Books was included in Publishers Weekly‘s 2022 Holiday Books for Kids, as well as Montreal Gazette‘s 2022 Holiday Books for Kids. His latest book, I’m Going To Build A Snowman, from Simon & Schuster has received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal and was included in Publishers Weekly‘s Holiday Gift Guide 2023: Children’s & YA. Today, Jashar lives in Ohio with his wife Emily and their son Maxwell, who loves drawing and reading, too.
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 works include Husband in Hiding; Forgetting My Way Back to You; Brother of Interest; Wrong Line, Right Connection; and Accidental Allies. 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
Tom Batiuk is a graduate of Kent State University. His celebrated Funky Winkerbean comic strip concluded its 50-year run on December 31, 2022. Its spinoff, Crankshaft, is still carried in hundreds of newspapers throughout the United States. Batiuk was a finalist in the editorial cartooning category of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize awards for the singular series of daily comic strips that chronicled the death of longtime character Lisa Moore, which were collected in the Lisa’s Legacy Trilogy. His Funky Winkerbean series and Roses in December were finalists for the 2016 Eisner Awards. https://tombatiuk.com/.
S. F. Baumgartner
S.F. Baumgartner is a Christian suspense thriller author. She graduated from the University of Hawaii and the University of Cincinnati. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her cats, staying active, and binge-watching crime TV shows. She lives in Ohio with her family.
Jenn Bishop
Jenn Bishop is the author of five novels for young readers, including the Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner Things You Can’t Say and 2023 & 2024 Choose to Read Ohio title Where We Used to Roam. Her books have been named Junior Library Guild selections and Bank Street College of Education best books and have been finalists for state book awards. She currently calls Cincinnati, Ohio, home. What team do you think she roots for?