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.
For more information about our collection and programming for authors, please click on the "Authors" main tab above.
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Lissa Bryan
Lissa Bryan is an astronaut, renowned Kabuki actress, Olympic pole vault gold medalist, Iron Chef champion, and scientist who recently discovered the cure for athlete’s foot … though only in her head. Real life isn’t so interesting, which is why she spends most of her time writing. She is the author of four novels, Ghostwriter, Under These Restless Skies, The End of All Things and its sequel, Land of the Shadow. She has short stories in Romantic Interludes and Tales from the End. More of Lissa may be found on her website, http://www.lissabryan.com/.
Jeanne Bryner
Jeanne Bryner was born in Appalachia and grew up in Newton Falls, Ohio. A practicing registered nurse, she is a graduate of Trumbull Memorial’s School of Nursing and Kent State University’s Honors College. She has received writing fellowships from Bucknell University, the Ohio Arts Council (’97, 07), and Vermont Studio Center. Her poetry has been adapted for the stage and performed in Ohio, West Virginia, New York, Kentucky and Edinburgh, Scotland. With the support of Hiram College’s Center for Literature, Medicine and Biomedical Humanities, her nursing poetry has been adapted for the stage and performed by Verb Ballets in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a new play, “Foxglove Canyon” and she has eight books in print. She received an outstanding alumnae award from KSU, Trumbull Campus and her book, No Matter How Many Windows received the Working Class Studies’ Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing in Chicago. A community affiliate of the Center for Working Class Studies, she often writes about working class issues. She lives with her husband near a dairy farm in Newton Falls, Ohio. Bryner’s Smoke: Poems received second place in the 2012 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards. (Photo credit to Tammy Streets)
Carla Buckley
Carla Buckley is the author of the novels The Things That Keep Us Here and, Invisible. The Things That Keep Us Here was nominated for a Thriller Award as a best first novel, was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award for fiction in 2011, and has been a favorite with book clubs around the country.…
Read MoreCarla Buckley is the author of the novels The Things That Keep Us Here and, Invisible. The Things That Keep Us Here was nominated for a Thriller Award as a best first novel, was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award for fiction in 2011, and has been a favorite with book clubs around the country. In her novels, Buckley balances the intricacies of family dynamics with the terrifyingly real threat of new technology – pandemic viruses (The Things that Keep Us Here) and nano-techonology (Invisible). Buckley was born in Washington, D.C. She grew up overseas, but returned to Washington for high school and college. She has worked as an assistant press secretary for a U.S. senator, an analyst with the Smithsonian Institution, and a technical writer for a defense contractor. She serves on the Board of the International Thriller Writers as Vice President of Awards. She now makes her home in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, an environmental scientist, and their three children.
Gary Buettner
From Gary himself: “Who writes this stuff? Me. My name is Gary Buettner (Bit-ner) and I’ve been writing spooky stories since junior high, but I’ve been making up my own superheroes and stories since I was a little kid. Once, I even won a ten-speed bike by making up my own superhero for a contest on the back of a cereal box! I studied creative writing in college at Indiana University where I won a couple awards for my stories. I love everything about Halloween and sometimes I like to make stuffed toy monsters. When I was thinking about new monsters to make, I drew a picture of Frankenstein’s goldfish. Before I had a chance to sew it, I started wondering who would take care of such a crazy fish and the idea of a paranormal petsitter was born. I have four kids and I live with my family in Indiana. In fact, Mina from Monster Pets is named after my oldest daughter, Mina.”
Check out his website: https://gbuettner.wixsite.com/monsterpetsbooks
John Bullock
John Bullock is English and has an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Virginia. His stories have appeared in the Antioch Review, Fifth Wednesday, the Laurel Review, Prague Review, Clackamas Literary Review, in the anthology Open Windows III, and in other journals. He teaches high school English in rural Ohio. Mark Small: This is Your Life is his first novel.
Tamara Bundy
Tamara Bundy, a graduate of the Ohio State University, is a former columnist for the Cincinnati Post. She teaches English at Miami University where she received her Master’s Degree. Tamara is the author or co-author of seven non-fiction books. Her middle grade novel, Walking with Miss Millie (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin) won several awards including the Ohioana Award for Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction and has landed on many state reading lists. Her second middle grade novel, Pixie Pushes On recently released from Paulsen/Penguin. Bundy’s debut picture book, Lullaby Prayer, releases in November 2020 by Harper Collins Christian.
Kathleen Burgess
Kathleen S. Burgess hitchhiked from Washington, D.C., to Lima, Peru in 1971-2. What Burden Do Those Trains Bear Away is a memoir in poetry of this journey. Burgess is the editor of Reeds and Rushes—Pitch, Buzz, and Hum (Pudding House), author of Shaping What Was Left (Pudding House), Gardening with Wallace Stevens (Moria Books), and The Wonder Cupboard (NightBallet Press, 2019). A retired public school music teacher, her poetry has been published by, or is forthcoming in North American Review, Main Street Rag, Sou’wester, Malpaís Review, Cigar City Poetry Journal, Central American Poetry Review, others. History, world cultures, and an extensive musical background inform her poetry, research for professional presentations, and her collected musical instrument displays. http://www.kathleensburgess.com.
Richard W. Burry
Richard W. Burry is a retired neuroscientist and an architectural photographer who has worked for many preservation organizations, including the Ohio History Connection, Columbus Landmarks Foundation, and Heritage Ohio. Burry has a permanent exhibit of three photographs located at the Ohio Statehouse, and his work has been featured in over 20 galleries.
Christopher Busta-Peck
Christopher Busta-Peck is a librarian and artist living in the Onaway neighborhood of Shaker Heights with his wife, one year old son, a cat, and three turtles.
