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
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. 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.
Merrill Rainey
Growing up, Merrill Rainey spent most of his Saturday afternoons drawing, watching monster movies, and going on imaginary adventures. Today, he is a cowboy-boot-wearing, picture-book-creator and paper-toy-maker. Merrill’s work focuses on exploring creativity and imaginative play. His current titles include Giants Are Very Brave People (2023 Cybils Awards nominee) written by Florence Parry Heide, Roar! I’m a Dinosaur (winner of the Good Housekeeping Best Kids’ Board Book of 2022), Oink! I’m a Pig, and the Color, Cut, Create series. His newest title My First Town: A Building Block Book, is a modern take on the classic children’s building block toys. Young builders are able to punch, build, and stack a 3D city of their own. My First Town empowers children to know that if they can fold a sheet of paper four times to create a block and add a little bit of creativity and ingenuity, then they can build anything! Merrill also works for many children’s magazines like Highlights, Ranger Rick, and Humpty Dumpty. You can see more of his work at littlerainey.com or follow him on Instagram @littlerainey
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
Cuban-born Raul Ramos y Sanchez grew up in Miami’s cultural kaleidoscope before becoming a long-time resident of the U.S. Midwest. After a successful career in advertising that included founding an ad agency with offices in Ohio and California, Ramos turned to more personally significant work. Works of fiction by Raul include the Class H Trilogy (America Libre, House Divided, and Pancho Land), the coming of age novel, The Skinny Years, and Mustang To Paducah. The author and his work have been featured on television, radio and print publications across the country along with a host of online media sources. Visit Raul on his website, http://www.raulramos.com/.
Natalie D. Richards
New York Times Bestselling Author Natalie D. Richards is the author of nine “page-turning thrillers” (School Library Journal), including Five Total Strangers (2020) and Seven Dirty Secrets (2021). Four Found Dead (2023) is her ninth bone-chilling novel. Her first middle-grade novel is called 15 Secrets to Survival and has been hailed as, “a teamwork oriented update to Hatchet.” A champion of literacy and aspiring authors, Richards is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writing groups. She lives in Ohio with her three children and (very) large dog, Wookiee. Visit her at http://www.nataliedrichards.com.
David Rickert
David Rickert grew up in Columbus, Ohio surrounded by stacks of MAD Magazines, Calvin and Hobbes collections, and Walt Disney comics. He spent most of his free time learning about sable hair brushes, non-repro blue pencils, and Bristol boards so he could pursue a career drawing a comic strip. He went to Ohio State University instead to pursue a degree in education, but never gave up on the dream! He drew a daily strip in The Lantern (OSU’s school newspaper) for most of his college years. After earning a teaching degree and working a few years in the classroom, the itch to create comics resurfaced. He headed back to the drawing board (literally) to create educational comics, selling them on the Teachers Pay Teachers marketplace. Educators from around the world have enthusiastically embraced his comics as an effective way to teach difficult language arts concepts, especially with reluctant readers and English language learners. When he’s not drawing comics, David likes to do yoga, play guitar, and read.
Debbie Rigaud
Debbie Rigaud is a New York Times bestselling co-author of the Hope series (with Alyssa Milano) and The Sister Switch (with Sarah Mlynowski). Her notable young adult novels A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic and Simone Breaks All the Rules are colored with sights and sounds of metro NYC, where she was born and raised. Debbie now lives with her husband and children in Columbus, Ohio, where she records her impressions of Midwestern life onto new pages. You can visit her at DebbieRigaud.com or on Instagram @FroAndABow.
Sandra Rivers-Gill
A Native Ohioan, Sandra Rivers-Gill is a poet, teaching artist, and performer. Her poetry has garnered numerous awards, and has been featured in journals and anthologies. She is a member of the Ohio Poetry Association and has participated in events such as Lit Youngstown Festival, Poetry Out Loud, Spoken & Heard, and the Toledo Arts Commission. She is editor of Dopeless Hope Fiends, a limited-addition anthology of poems penned by women recovering from substance and alcohol abuse published by The Radio Room Press (2018). As We Cover Ourselves With Light is her debut chapbook published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions (2023).
Blythe Russo
Blythe Russo is an author-illustrator currently living just outside Cincinnati, Ohio. When she’s not making books, you can find her sewing, building puppets, or in the kitchen on a never-ending quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Visit her at https://www.blytherussoillustration.com/
Jillian Scudder
Dr. Jillian Scudder is an astrophysicist and associate professor of Physics & Astronomy at Oberlin College, Ohio. Her previous book was Astroquizzical: A Beginner’s Journey Through the Cosmos (Icon Books, 2019), and her writing has appeared in Forbes, Quartz, Medium, and The Conversation. Learn more at: https://www.jillianscudder.com/.