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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Cassandra J. Kelly

Cassandra J. Kelly is a professional marketer, storyteller, and changemaker. Through her work, she hopes to empower others with knowledge and understanding about science, history, and above all themselves. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism Communications from Ohio University. After a brief stint as a journalist in New York, Cassandra moved back to her home in Columbus, Ohio to serve her community as a nonprofit communicator.…Read More
Cassandra J. Kelly is a professional marketer, storyteller, and changemaker. Through her work, she hopes to empower others with knowledge and understanding about science, history, and above all themselves. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism Communications from Ohio University. After a brief stint as a journalist in New York, Cassandra moved back to her home in Columbus, Ohio to serve her community as a nonprofit communicator. She has worked with multiple nonprofits to achieve visibility. She also continues to freelance as a writer for national publications, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Her debut novel, The Clearing, will be published on March 26, 2024. Learn more at her website: https://www.cassandrajkelly.com
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Romana Kieti

Romana is a passionate author, speaker, and advocate dedicated to empowering women who have experienced or are currently navigating abusive relationships. She is a survivor of domestic abuse, with a deep passion for helping others overcome adversity. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and healing through writing and speaking. Her book (memoir), Scars of Matrimony: Tina’s Story of Hope & Despair, tells of her determination to survive against all odds; storytelling is a powerful tool to encourage and give hope to others to know they are not alone.…Read More

Romana is a passionate author, speaker, and advocate dedicated to empowering women who have experienced or are currently navigating abusive relationships.

She is a survivor of domestic abuse, with a deep passion for helping others overcome adversity. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and healing through writing and speaking. Her book (memoir), Scars of Matrimony: Tina’s Story of Hope & Despair, tells of her determination to survive against all odds; storytelling is a powerful tool to encourage and give hope to others to know they are not alone. Telling your story can offer a compassionate and empowering perspective on the effects of domestic abuse, providing a roadmap to finding strength, recovery, and freedom. Initially, she did not want to release this book but felt a calling from God to share her experience to inspire others.

Romana’s advocacy is fueled by her determination to help others in similar situations. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing red flags in relationships, seeking help from safe places, and understanding that abusers rarely change. Her message to other survivors is clear: leave while you still have your life, seek support, and never feel ashamed to confide in someone about the abuse.

Since the release of her book, she has been advocating for change and is dedicated to empowering and inspiring women who have experienced domestic abuse. With firsthand experience and deep understanding, she offers hope, strength, and practical guidance to help women reclaim their lives, rebuild their confidence, and step into their true potential. Romana’s mission is to provide the tools to heal, thrive, and rise above the challenges that domestic abuse creates. She is committed to creating a safe space for women to connect, learn, and find the courage to move forward with their lives. Her other books include:

Scars of Matrimony: Broken Yet Unbreakable: 31 Daily Devotions for Women on the Path to Healing from Abuse

Safari Wisdom: Essential Safari Tips for and Unforgettable Adventure to Kenya, Africa

The Brave and Courageous Dreamers: A collection of Adventure Folk Tales from Kenya, Africa

Romana holds a degree in human resource management and a master’s degree in business administration. When not working, Romana enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, road trips, swimming, reading, cooking, dancing and outdoor activities. She is also the Founder of Hope Anew Rescue Center. Learn more at: https://hoperescuecenter.org/

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Joey S. Kim

I am an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Toledo. Prior to arriving in Toledo, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University's Kilachand Honors College and held teaching positions at Ohio State and UT-Austin. I research and teach global Anglophone literature with a focus on 18th- and 19th-century poetics and aesthetics. My first book project, Romanticism and the Poetics of Orientation, identifies a new mode of cultural production, what I deem a “poetics of orientation,” in nineteenth-century Romantic literature.…Read More

I am an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Toledo. Prior to arriving in Toledo, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University’s Kilachand Honors College and held teaching positions at Ohio State and UT-Austin. I research and teach global Anglophone literature with a focus on 18th- and 19th-century poetics and aesthetics. My first book project, Romanticism and the Poetics of Orientation, identifies a new mode of cultural production, what I deem a “poetics of orientation,” in nineteenth-century Romantic literature. This “poetics of orientation” roots the self-formation of the poetic subject in forms of cultural difference. In addition to nineteenth-century topics, I also work on global Asian culture and multiethnic U.S. literature. My next book project, The Yellow Nineteenth Century, traces Asian North American culture through print culture and newspapers in the postbellum period. My research has been supported by the NEH, the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, and others. I have published work in Essays in RomanticismLA Review of Books, American Periodicals, Pleiades: Literature in Context, The Keats-Shelley Review, The Keats-Shelley Journal, Shondaland, The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies, and elsewhere. A poet as well as a literary critic, my award-winning debut book of poems, Body Facts, was released by Diode Editions on June 15, 2021.

Visit her website at: https://www.joeyskim.com/

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Mercedes King

Mercedes King is an Ohio native and founding member of Buckeye Crime Writers. Mixing fact with fiction is her specialty and has served her well when it comes to crafting stories about the private lives of famous people. Although she enjoys setting her tales in not-so-distant decades, she also writes contemporary mysteries and crime fiction.Read More

Mercedes King is an Ohio native and founding member of Buckeye Crime Writers. Mixing fact with fiction is her specialty and has served her well when it comes to crafting stories about the private lives of famous people. Although she enjoys setting her tales in not-so-distant decades, she also writes contemporary mysteries and crime fiction.

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Bob King

Bob King is a Professor of English at Kent State University at Stark & has taught at KSU for 26 years, earning multiple teaching distinctions. He holds degrees from Loyola University Chicago & Indiana University (MFA, poetry), where he was Editor of Indiana Review. His first poetry collection, And & And, is now available (August 30, 2024), and his second poetry collection, And/Or, will be available in September 2025.…Read More

Bob King is a Professor of English at Kent State University at Stark & has taught at KSU for 26 years, earning multiple teaching distinctions. He holds degrees from Loyola University Chicago & Indiana University (MFA, poetry), where he was Editor of Indiana Review. His first poetry collection, And & And, is now available (August 30, 2024), and his second poetry collection, And/Or, will be available in September 2025. Both titles are being published by Finishing Line Press. He’s a former recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship and part of a team that won a 2023-2024 National Endowment for the Arts/Arts Midwest Big Read Communities Grant. In 2023 editors from three journals nominated his poems for a Pushcart Prize: The Hooghly Review, LEON Literary Review, and Paddler Press. And two editors nominated his poems for Best of the Net Anthology 2024: Blue Flame Review and The Gorko Gazette. Other past poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Narrative Magazine, Olney Magazine, Erato Magazine, Ink Sweat & Tears, Full House Literary, Allium: a Journal of Poetry & Prose, Muleskinner, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Northwest Review, Quarter After Eight, and Green Mountains Review, among dozens of others. He lives in Fairview Park, Ohio, with his wife & daughters.

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Katrina Kittle

Katrina Kittle’s newest novel, Morning in This Broken World, released September 1, 2023 and was an Amazon First Reads pick for August. Katrina is the author of four other novels for adults—Traveling Light, Two Truths & a Lie, The Kindness of Strangers, and The Blessings of the Animals—and one novel for tweens, Reasons to Be Happy.…Read More

Katrina Kittle’s newest novel, Morning in This Broken World, released September 1, 2023 and was an Amazon First Reads pick for August. Katrina is the author of four other novels for adults—Traveling Light, Two Truths & a Lie, The Kindness of Strangers, and The Blessings of the Animals—and one novel for tweens, Reasons to Be Happy. The Kindness of Strangers was a BookSense pick and was the Fiction winner for the 2006 Great Lakes Book Awards. She teaches creative writing in the Dayton area and online for Word’s Worth Writing Connections, is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Dayton, and is a frequent public speaker. She lives near Dayton with her fella, quirky cat, sweet beagle, and out-of-control garden. For more information on Katrina or her books, or to sign up for her fun, monthly newsletter, visit Katrinakittle.com.

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Jonathan Knight

Jonathan Knight has written nine books on Cleveland sports. Called "one of the most articulate and devoted sportswriters in Ohio" by the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight has been praised by the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and ESPN's Grantland.com. He's a graduate of Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.…Read More

Jonathan Knight has written nine books on Cleveland sports. Called “one of the most articulate and devoted sportswriters in Ohio” by the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight has been praised by the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and ESPN’s Grantland.com. He’s a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his two sons. You can learn more at http://www.jknightbooks.com and follow him on Twitter at @jknightwriter.

Photo of Brenda Knight

Brenda Knight

Ohio native Brenda Knight began her career at HarperCollins, working with luminaries Paolo Coelho, Marianne Williamson, and Huston Smith. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year in 2014 at the American Library Association. Knight is the author of Wild Women and BooksThe Grateful TableBe a Good in the World, Random Acts of Kindness, and Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award.…Read More

Ohio native Brenda Knight began her career at HarperCollins, working with luminaries Paolo Coelho, Marianne Williamson, and Huston Smith. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year in 2014 at the American Library Association. Knight is the author of Wild Women and BooksThe Grateful TableBe a Good in the World, Random Acts of Kindness, and Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award. Knight also cocreated You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration and Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving with Nita Sweeney (Depression Hates a Moving Target.) Knight is a poet, writer, and editor. She is currently the Associate Publisher for Mango Publishing; she also served as President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, and is an instructor at the annual San Francisco Writers Conference, Central Coast Writers Conference, and wherever she can be with fellow writers. She resides in San Francisco, CA.

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Faith (FM) Knight

FAITH (FM) KNIGHT writes middle grade, young adult and new adult fiction. She is a former TV news reporter and digital producer. She is also the cousin of legendary children's book icon Virginia Hamilton. Her debut YA historical novel, As Gray As Black & White, received critical acclaim from Publisher's Weekly's indie arm BookLife.…

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FAITH (FM) KNIGHT writes middle grade, young adult and new adult fiction. She is a former TV news reporter and digital producer. She is also the cousin of legendary children’s book icon Virginia Hamilton. Her debut YA historical novel, As Gray As Black & White, received critical acclaim from Publisher’s Weekly’s indie arm BookLife.

She enjoys cooking, sewing and Bible education. She is from Yellow Springs, Ohio and now lives in North Carolina with her husband. You can find her books at https://therealknightauthor.com.

Photo of Kip Knott

Kip Knott

Kip Knott is a 7th generation Appalachian who was born and raised in Ohio. He is the author of eight poetry chapbooks and three full-length collections of poetry, his most recent being A Mob of Kangaroos (Ridge Books, 2024). His first full-length collection of stories, Some Birds Nest in Broken Branches, was published in 2021 by Alien Buddha Press.…Read More
Kip Knott is a 7th generation Appalachian who was born and raised in Ohio. He is the author of eight poetry chapbooks and three full-length collections of poetry, his most recent being A Mob of Kangaroos (Ridge Books, 2024). His first full-length collection of stories, Some Birds Nest in Broken Branches, was published in 2021 by Alien Buddha Press. His writing and photography have appeared in BarrenBeloit Fiction Journal, Best Microfiction 2024, Gettysburg Review, The Greensboro Review, ONE ART, Poet Lore, The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Wigleaf Top 50. His writing has been nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, and he is the recipient of grants from the Ohio Arts Council for both poetry and playwriting. Currently, he is a teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer who spends his free time traveling throughout Appalachia and the Midwest taking photographs and searching for lost art treasures. You can follow him on Twitter at @kip_knott and read more of his writing at kipknott.com.