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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Carole Gerber
Carole Gerber is a poet and children’s book author living in Powell, Ohio. She has written nearly two dozen picture books, early readers, and chapter books.
Gerber has worked as a high school and middle school English teacher, an adjunct professor of journalism at Ohio State, a marketing director, editor of a company magazine, a member of creative teams at an ad agency and a hospital, a contributing editor to a computer magazine, and – finally! – as a freelance writer of hundreds of elementary textbooks, magazine articles, speeches, annual reports, and patient education materials.
Besides being a “Jill” of many trades – or more precisely – one trade, writing, with many incarnations, Gerber is married to Mark, the mother of two grown daughters, Jess and Paige, and “Mimi” to Sara and Tyler, Paige’s children. In addition, she sponsors half a dozen children at a time through World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children of all faiths in more than 100 developing countries. Gerber keeps their photos posted to remind her of her blessings and responsibilities.
In her free time, she volunteers as a tour guide for children at a local nature preserve and farm. Gerber also enjoys gardening, though her enthusiasm dwindles as summer progresses, and reading, mostly for her own pleasure and edification. Gerber belongs to a neighborhood book discussion group, enjoys traveling to learn about other countries and cultures, and practices yoga which, like writing, is humbling and challenging. For more information, visit http://carolegerber.com/
Robin Gianna
After completing a degree in journalism from Ohio State University, working in the advertising industry, then becoming a stay-at-home mom for a few years, Robin Gianna had what she likes to call her midlife awakening. She decided she wanted to write the romance novels she’d loved since her teens, and embarked on that quest.
Robin loves pushing her characters to grow until they’re finally ready for their well-deserved happily-ever-afters! When she’s not writing, Robin’s life is filled with a cheerfully messy kitchen, a needy garden, a grand piano she doesn’t practice enough, her own doctor hero husband, three great kids, a drooling bulldog, and one grouchy Siamese cat.
David Giffels
David Giffels is the author of eight books of nonfiction, most recently The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio, coauthored with Jade Dellinger. His 2020 book Barnstorming Ohio: To Understand America, was described by Publishers Weekly as a “trenchant mix of memoir, reportage, and political analysis,” and selected as one of Library Journal’s Best Books of 2020. His other books include the memoirs Furnishing Eternity and All the Way Home, both winners of the Ohioana Book Award, and The Hard Way on Purpose, a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice.” His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Parade, The Iowa Review, Esquire, Grantland, and many other publications. He also wrote for the MTV animated series Beavis and Butt-Head. He is a professor of English at the University of Akron, where he serves on the faculty of the NEOMFA creative writing program.
Kellie DuBay Gillis
Kellie DuBay Gillis writes picture books about things you find in nature, things you might not find in nature unless you know the magical places to look, things that happen to most kids, and things most kids wish would happen. Kellie graduated from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment and is an environmental scientist/communications specialist with over 25 years of experience blending her passion for protecting the planet with storytelling. She grew up on a street in Bay City, Michigan with kids who loved to make things and share neighborhood adventures on an old purple tandem bike. She now lives outside of Cleveland in Fairview Park, Ohio with her family, where they ride an old purple tandem bike that they fixed up like new.
Martin Gitlin
Martin Gitlin is an award-winning journalist and author based in Cleveland. He has had more than 130 books published since 2006. Most were written for students of all grade levels in the realms of sports, history/social studies, pop culture and biographies. Marty has also authored many very successful trade books, including The Great American Cereal Book and the highly acclaimed Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History. He is quite proud of his newest book, titled A Celebration of Animation: The 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters in Television History. Marty won more than 45 awards as a newspaper journalist before focusing on freelance writing. He also covered the Cleveland Browns for CBS Sports from 2009 to 2012 and is an experienced and fun presenter at schools and libraries.
MaryAnn Givens-Hayes
Times flies after you hit the snooze button. I am MaryAnn Givens-Hayes, born into a large extended family of fifteen in the Tar Heel state of North Carolina. I relocated to New Jersey at the age of nine. I have been married for forty years. Our seven plus four children have given me thirty grands and ten great grandchildren. As a child I loved to listen to my mother read books or tell stories. Those times took me to another world. I began to create my own stories and eventually I wrote them down. Reading is my passion. Writing is my life. Coming from a large family gives me comfort when I’m surrounded by children. I reboot in their company. I’ve had many professions over the years while seeking to find one that I loved more than working with children. I’m now working as an administrator in Columbus, Ohio at a childcare learning center. I’m living my life to write for what I love, children.
Elton Glaser
Elton Glaser is distinguished professor emeritus of English at the University of Akron, where he also directed the University of Akron Press and edited the Akron Series in Poetry. He is the author of eight poetry collections, most recently The Law of Falling Bodies and Translations from the Flesh. With William Greenway, he coedited I Have My Own Song for It: Modern Poems of Ohio. Among his awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council, the Iowa Poetry Prize, the Crab Orchard Poetry Award, and the Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize.
Janyce Denise Glasper
Janyce Denise Glasper is a Dayton, Ohio based multidisciplinary artist, writer, and independent scholar. Her essays and short stories have appeared in ÆQAI Journal, Belt Magazine, RaceBaitr, Black Youth Project, and other publications. Currently, she is an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital Art Writer Grant recipient, Roots, Wounds, & Words: Words of Resistance + Restoration Fiction Fellow, and remote contributing arts writer for the Philadelphia based publication artblog. “Route” is her debut illustrated novel.