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.

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Keturah Bobo

Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio with family roots in Detroit, MI, Keturah was home-schooled from an early age by her mother who encouraged her passion for art at the early age of two. She decided to become a full-time artist after graduating from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2006. Keturah has always been inspired by her community and especially the beauty of natural hair.…Read More

Jane Bond

Jane Bond always wanted to write. But after earning a degree in Journalism from Ohio University, her life took another direction. As a single mom with two small daughters, she started law school in 1973 earning a law degree from the University of Akron in 1976. She started practicing law at a desk in the reception area of an Akron law firm at a time when women were uncommon and unwelcome as lawyers.…

Then came the opportunity to become a Summit County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. That led to an offer to become the first General Counsel to the Summit County Executive. This involved her in settling a federal lawsuit on jail overcrowding and helping to plan a new county jail. With that experience in jail planning, she was offered a job in Cleveland as corporate legal counsel and criminal justice planner for The Voinovich Companies. The work took her into jails and prisons all over the United States.

She decided serving in the courts could have a greater impact than planning. She sought and received an appointment as Municipal Judge in the City of Akron. After two years as a municipal judge, she was appointed to the Common Pleas Court in Summit County. Now in an elected office with a six-year term, she was required to run for election after her appointment. She won and then was re-elected to two more terms, retiring in 2007 after eighteen years on the bench.

During her service as judge, she presided over thousands of criminal and civil cases. One of her most challenging experiences had been presiding over a complex series of criminal cases that collectively became known as “The Escort Case.” She drew on the facts of that case to write this compelling true story of the criminal justice system gone awry and the struggle to finally do justice.

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. Her picture books include THE STORYTELLER, THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC, I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEARTS, and POLAR BEAR ISLAND. When she’s not writing or performing, Lindsay loves to run, travel, eat spicy foods and brainstorm book ideas with her family. 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 played her first role-playing game in high school and has been friends with that group ever since. In fact, she even married the Dungeon Master. 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.…Read More

Zoë Brigley

Zoë Brigley is the author of three books of poetry published by Bloodaxe: Hand & Skull (2019), Conquest (2012), and The Secret (2007). All three are UK Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Poems from the collections have won an Eric Gregory Award for the best British poets under 30, have been longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize for the best international writers under 40, and were Forward Prize commended. She has also published a collection of nonfiction essays: Notes from a Swing State: Writing from Wales and America (Parthian 2019), which was well received in reviews. Her most recent chapbooks include: Aubade After A French Movie (Broken Sleep, 2020), Into Eros (Verve, 2021), and Lycanthrope (Salò Press, 2024). She collaborated with Kristian Evans for a prose chapbook Otherworlds: Writing on Nature and Magic (Broken Sleep 2021), and with Jenny Mitchell and Roy McFarlane for the recently published Family Name (Nine Pens, 2023). Her writing appears in publications like Australian Book Review, Chicago Review, Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, Poetry Ireland Review, Orion, Poetry Review, PN Review, Waxwing, and Women’s Studies Quarterly. She researches literature, film, trauma, and representations of violence. She co-edited the academic volume Feminism, Literature, and Rape Narratives (with Sorcha Gunne). Her research articles appear in The Journal of Gender Studies, Feminist Formations, Feminist Media Studies, Gender and Education, and Contemporary Women’s Writing. For a number of years, she produced a podcast with her students on anti-violence advocacy at SinisterMyth.com. She became editor for Wales’ leading poetry journal, Poetry Wales, in 2021, and she is now Poetry Editor for Seren Books jointly with the poet Rhian Edwards. She was also an editor for Magma Poetry, a special issue on ‘Dwelling’ in 2021 with Kristian Evans and Rob Mackenzie. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also curated Dwelling During the Pandemic: An Ohio Poetry Project.With Kristian Evans, she was co-editor of the Seren anthology 100 Poems to Save the Earth (Seren 2021), and together they founded MODRON: Writing on the Ecological Crisis, which she works on with Evans and editors Taz Rahman, Siân Melangell Dafydd, and Glyn Edwards. Zoë is a disabled writer; she is deaf and identifies as neurodivergent.

Tiara J. Brown

Tiara J. Brown grew up in Northeast Ohio and studied media at Ohio University. Although The Tales of Alexandria Stecklar: The Locket is her first published novel, she has been held captive by the art of story-telling since she was twelve-years-old. When she is not writing or reading, you can be found swing dancing, hiking, or traveling.Read More

H.M.S. Brown

H.M.S. Brown is an avid knitter, crocheter, and voracious reader who stumbled into writing during lockdown in 2020 after complaining to her mom about a book she didn’t like. When her mom challenged her to write her own, the small town of Grant’s Crossing, Ohio, was born. H.M.S. Brown is a graduate of both Indiana University and The Ohio State University, as well as a returned Peace Corps volunteer, so be prepared to see occasional mentions of the Hoosiers, the Buckeyes, and all things Bulgarian within her novels. She lives in central Ohio, doing the bidding of her evil, yet adorable cat, Michonne, but also keeps a day job to maintain a roof over her books and yarn stash. Wayward Guilt is H.M.S. Brown’s debut novel and Book 1 of her Heroes of Grant’s Crossing series. Watch for the follow-up to Wayward Guilt, Safe Now, to hit the shelves in early 2024.

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.Read More

Marcy Campbell

Marcy Campbell is an award-winning author of picture books and middle-grade novels, which have earned praise from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, School Library Review, The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, and many others. She is the recipient of the Ohioana Award, the Comstock Read Aloud Award, the Crystal Kite Award and the CLC Book Award from Frostburg State University, as well as the Huckepack Prize in Germany. Her picture books have been selected for the Junior Library Guild and named a Best Children’s Book of the Year by Bank Street College and National Public Radio. In addition, Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have a Horse was an independent bookstore bestseller. Her debut middle-grade novel, Rule of Threes, was selected by the State Library of Ohio for the Choose to Read Ohio list for 2023-2024. Marcy’s books have been translated into eight languages and adapted for stage. She lives in Ohio with her family. Visit her at marcycampbell.com.

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