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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Kathryn Haueisen
Kathryn Haueisen loves to meet fascinating people and write articles and books about them. Sometimes she lets her imagination run wild and writes short stories about imaginary people, loosely based on people she’s met. She’s published seven books, both non-fiction and fiction. Her most recent books are historical novels about the famous Mayflower voyage, the 17th century issues in Europe that led to the voyage, and the first encounters between the New England settlers and the Indigenous peoples. She has published dozens of articles in assorted faith-based and consumer publications. Since retiring from active ministry as an ordained Protestant pastor she has been focusing on writing regular blogs and a monthly newsletter at http://www.howwisethen.com.
Sherri Hayes
Sherri spent most of her childhood detesting English class. It was one of her least favorite subjects because she never seemed to fit into the standard mold. She wasn’t good at spelling, or following grammar rules, and outlines made her head spin. For that reason, Sherri never imagined becoming an author. At the age of thirty, all of that changed. After getting frustrated with the direction a television show was taking two of its characters, Sherri decided to try her hand at writing an alternate ending, and give the characters their happily ever after. By the time the story finished, it was one of the top ten read stories on the site, and her readers were encouraging her to write more.
Writing has become a creative outlet that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions, while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create.
William Heath
William Heath was born in Youngstown, grew up in Poland, Ohio, with a BA from Hiram College and a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He has taught American literature and creative writing at Kenyon, Transylvania, Vassar, the University of Seville, and Mt. St. Mary’s University, where the William Heath Award is given annually to the best student writer. He is the author of three novels: The Children Bob Moses Led (winner of the Hackney Literary Award), Blacksnake’s Path, and Devil Dancer, three poetry books: The Walking Man, Steel Valley Elegy, and Going Places, two chapbooks: Night Moves in Ohio and Leaving Seville, a work of history: William Wells and the Struggle for the Old Northwest (winner of two Spur Awards), and a collection of interviews: Conversations with Robert Stone. He can be found online at http://www.williamheathbooks.com
Anita M. Hessenauer
Anita M. Hessenauer is a freelance writer residing in Dublin, Ohio. She is a prolific author of both poetry and prose and has published articles in literary and religious periodicals. Her collection of poems, Authenticity was published in 2019, followed by her second poetry collection, We All Belong in 2021. Anita’s third poetry collection, Let Go was published in June 2023. Anita has a doctorate in French Literature from the University of Strasbourg, France and has taught at The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and Bowling Green State University. She is a fully professed Third-Order Carmelite. Anita’s poetry celebrates the inherent dignity of the human person, the sanctity of human life and the intrinsic value and worth of our natural world. Her poems challenge the reader to cast aside all preconceptions, prejudices, egotism, and a divisive mentality that prevents us from working for the good of the human person and of our created world. Anita’s books are available on Amazon and where books are sold. Learn more: https://anitamhessenauer.com/
Will Hillenbrand
Will Hillenbrand is a celebrated author and illustrator whose works include eighty picture books for young readers. In addition to his own self-illustrated titles, he has also illustrated the works of writers and retellers, including Verna Aardema, Judy Sierra, Margery Cuyler, Judith St. George, Phyllis Root, Jane Yolen, Karma Wilson and Jane Hillenbrand. Will has spent most of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up as the youngest of four boys. His childhood routines revolved around the neighborhood, his parents’ barbershop, the Northern Hills Library, playing baseball, and drawing. He now works in a small studio in the upstairs of his Cape Cod home, which he shares with his wife, Jane, a kindergarten teacher. Their son Ian, a geologist, is an avid reader and writer of many published scientific papers. Currently, he is doing postdoctoral work at the United States Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado. School Library Journal said: “There’s not a word out of place in this blustery adventure. It’s a masterful collaboration of illustration and text. This cozy winter tale, with its striking pictures, may appear to be cold but is quite the opposite,” about his book The Voice In The Hollow. Learn more at http://www.willhillenbrand.com.
Conrade C. Hinds
Conrade C. Hinds was born in Nashville and graduated from Ball State University, where he studied architecture and industrial technology. He has lived in Ohio for forty years. A registered architect and a retired projects manager with the City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities, he is also a retired adjunct faculty member in the Engineering Technology Department at Columbus State Community College. His latest books is History of Buckeye Inventions, and he has published three other books: The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908, Columbus and the Great Flood of 1913, and Lost Circuses of Ohio.
Kate Hoefler
Kate Hoefler was born and still lives and writes in the rolling hills of Ohio’s Appalachia. She is the author of numerous books and loves the delicate tightrope that picture books stand on between the light that is and the light that could be. Three of her recent books, Rabbit and the Motorbike, Courage Hats, and In The Dark were Ohioana Floyd’s Pick Honor books. Her newest book, The Couch In The Yard, might allow readers to travel above and beyond their couches (wink-wink). She loves small dogs, pottery, being an introvert, and cheese. Follow her on Instagram: @katehoefler
Sara Holbrook
Sara Holbrook, a resident of Mentor, OH, is the author of over a dozen poetry books for children, teens and books for adults. Her newest book is a middle grade novel, The Enemy, historical fiction. She is a frequent speaker at schools and teacher conferences all over the world. Along with co-author Michael Salinger, she is also the author of four teacher professional books on poetry, vocabulary instruction, and performance.
Kerrie Logan Hollihan
Author Kerrie Hollihan writes award-winning nonfiction for kids and teens. Her new book is BONES UNEARTHED!, third in the Creepy and True series for Abrams Books for Young Readers. Following GHOSTS UNVEILED! The first, MUMMIES EXPOSED!, garnered four four-star reviews.
Kerrie’s books have been honored as “notables” by the Children’s Book Council/National Council for the Social Studies and more. She’s especially thrilled that Mummies! is accessible for vision impaired readers through the Library of Congress. Her very first book, ISAAC NEWTON & PHYSICS FOR KIDS, has been printed in six languages.
Kerrie belongs to the highly regarded nonfiction author group iNK Think Tank and its interactive partner, Authors on Call – http://www.inkthinktank.org. Catch her three-minute talks about lots of things at iNK’s Nonfiction Minute, https://www.nonfictionminute.org.
Kerrie enjoys meeting young readers during school visits both in person and on the web. She offers kid-friendly activities with other nonfiction authors at Hands-on-Books, http://hands-on-books.blogspot.com/.
Kerrie also reaches out to inquisitive older adults–historical societies, book groups, and more–with programs speaking to their life experience. Get in touch on her contact page: https://kerriehollihan.com/contact/
Edward P. Horvath
Colonel Edward P. Horvath, Jr. is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps, having served three deployments in Iraq. He has been a physician for 50 years, specializing in internal medicine, occupational medicine and pulmonary disease. During his last deployment in 2011, Col. Horvath was Task Force Deputy Commander and Chief of Clinical Services for a combat support hospital near Tikrit, Iraq and was responsible for the medical care of over 20,000 U.S. soldiers in the northern half of Iraq. Earlier at the same base, he staffed the emergency room and outpatient clinic, caring for U.S. soldiers, Iraqi civilians and enemy combatants.
Horvath first went to war in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 at age 59, after a 26-year break in military service, having served as a U.S. Navy officer earlier in his career. He returned to the military, in part, inspired by his two sons, who both joined the Navy following 9/11. During his first deployment, he served as Deputy Commander at a hospital set within a sprawling detention complex later recognized as the birthplace of ISIS. Colonel Horvath was also stationed at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison hospital and in Baghdad on special assignment.
For his actions in Iraq, Colonel Horvath was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and later received one of the nation’s highest military honors, the Legion of Merit. He currently serves as a primary care physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland.
Previously, Horvath held positions at top medical centers including the Cleveland Clinic. He also served as Medical Director for major corporations such as BP America and General Electric. In addition, he has held academic appointments at several universities and is a recognized research scientist and educator. He has authored more than 30 publications on topics including toxicology, environmental lung disease and military medicine. He was also contributing author and co-editor of a major textbook, “Occupational Medicine.”
After graduating from Harvey High School in 1964, Colonel Horvath earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Western Reserve University, He also holds a medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Minnesota. Colonel Horvath received the American Red Cross Hero Award in 2013 for “extraordinary courage in saving lives.” He has been married to his wife, Joy, for 47 years, and they have three children. Their daughter is a physician and their two sons are U.S. Navy officers. https://goodmedicinehardtimes.com/