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): Nonfiction
Kathryn Schulz
Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for “The Really Big One,” an article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. Lost & Found grew out of “Losing Streak,” which was originally published in The New Yorker and later anthologized in The Best American Essays. Her other essays and reporting have appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Food Writing. A native of Ohio, she lives with her family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Learn more at: https://www.kathrynschulz.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/.
Julie Seabrook Ream
JULIE SEABROOK REAM is an artist who never could pick a favorite color. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Steve Sefner
Steve Sefner is a former play-by-play announcer for Kent State Athletics. He has broadcasted well over 1,000 basketball & football games in his career including the 2001-2002 men’s basketball Golden Dream Season. Steve spent several years in the sports industry, most notably Division I Athletics, the NHL, AFL, and MLS. Steve has had the opportunity to work in a variety of capacities including broadcasting, corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, marketing, promotions, and management. He enjoys public speaking, a CTA (Certified Tourism Ambassador) and is on the Board of Directors for his local Chamber of Commerce. Steve is a native of Northeast, Ohio and an avid sports fan. Check out his new book here: The Golden Dream: The Story of the 2001-2002 Kent State Men’s Basketball Elite Eight Season
Marilyn Seguin
Marilyn Weymouth Seguin is the author of fifteen books, many of them Ohio-based historical fiction and nonfiction for young readers. She teaches in the Writing Program of the English Department at Kent State University. When she is not helping her students with their writing, she is busily crafting another story. Marilyn lives with her husband Rollie and little dog Jerzee in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Gray, Maine.
Kenneth Sewell
During the Cold War years, Kenneth R. Sewell served aboard the USS Parche, a fast attack submarine that was the Navy’s most decorated ship. Parche conducted a number of special operations, some of which were revealed in Blind Man’s Bluff, The Story of American Submarine Espionage. Since leaving the Navy, Mr. Sewell has remained connected to the US military and intelligence community.…
Read MoreDuring the Cold War years, Kenneth R. Sewell served aboard the USS Parche, a fast attack submarine that was the Navy’s most decorated ship. Parche conducted a number of special operations, some of which were revealed in Blind Man’s Bluff, The Story of American Submarine Espionage. Since leaving the Navy, Mr. Sewell has remained connected to the US military and intelligence community. He has held both Department of Defense and Department of Energy security clearances and has participated in a number of projects for the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. He is the primary author of the New York Times bestseller Red Star Rogue, All Hands Down (Simon & Schuster), and co-author of Code Name Caesar (Berkley/Penguin). Sewell collaborated with director Todd Robinson to create the full length feature film Phantom, which is based on Red Star Rogue and stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. A Buckeye by birth and graduate of Urbana University, he currently resides in Gahanna, Ohio.
Bev Shaffer
Bev Shaffer is an author, food writer, and culinary instructor. Her weekly column “Ask Bev” in the Cleveland Plain Dealer food section and her weekly radio spot on Akron, Ohio’s WAKR’s “Morning Drive Time” feature her signature humor and her uncanny ability to create uncomplicated recipes and calm food and cooking phobias. She has developed more than eight thousand recipes on a wide variety of subjects, including seafood, sides and grains, and desserts.…
Read MoreBev Shaffer is an author, food writer, and culinary instructor. Her weekly column “Ask Bev” in the Cleveland Plain Dealer food section and her weekly radio spot on Akron, Ohio’s WAKR’s “Morning Drive Time” feature her signature humor and her uncanny ability to create uncomplicated recipes and calm food and cooking phobias. She has developed more than eight thousand recipes on a wide variety of subjects, including seafood, sides and grains, and desserts. She has also received many national and local commendations and more than one hundred cooking awards, including the Ohio Dietetic Association Outstanding Contribution Award. Born and raised in North Brunswick, New Jersey, Chef Shaffer resides in Seville, Ohio.
Janet Shailer
From Janet: “I was born & raised in Grove City, Ohio, and graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1971 with a degree in Radio/TV/Film and a minor in journalism. Early in my career I worked as a broadcast engineer for two NBC-affiliated TV stations and Warner Cable’s Qube cable TV network. I was a contributing editor of Television Broadcast magazine and later editor of the Southwest Messenger newspaper in Columbus. I am the author of three non-fiction history books and one historical fiction/murder mystery that takes place in Steubenville, OH.”
Prince Shakur
Prince Shakur is a queer, Jamaican-American freelance journalist, cultural essayist, and grassroots organizer with a BA in Creative Writing from Ohio University. His words have been featured in Teen Vogue, Catapult, Level, Electric Lit, and more. In addition, Shakur is the proud writer in residence at Sangam House, Twelve Arts, The Studios of Key West, and La Maison Baldwin. Learn more: https://www.princeshakur.com/
Ric S. Sheffield
Ric S. Sheffield is Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies and Sociology at Kenyon College and the Director of the John Adams Summer Scholars Program in Socio-legal Studies.
Before coming to Kenyon, he served for ten years as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio. He began his legal career as a civil rights lawyer handling primarily sex and race discrimination cases. He subsequently held the position of chief attorney as head of the state’s consumer protection division.
In addition to research that has focused upon the relationship between law and issues of gender, race, and ethnicity, he has spent several years examining issues involving the African American experience in rural Ohio. He is among a select group of scholars chosen to participate in the Ohio Humanities Council’s speakers’ bureau, lecturing widely on issues of race and law as well as rural diversity.
He has published articles, reviews, and book chapters on topics including legal history, the legal profession, and African American social and legal history. He is the author of the book “We Got By: A Black Family’s Journey in the Heartland.” His current project includes completion of a manuscript on voting rights cases from Ohio in the late 1860s and early 1870s.
A graduate of Case Western Reserve University where he attended college, graduate school in sociology and law school, he has served upon various statewide policy-making and regulatory boards. During his career at Kenyon, he spent several years on the College’s senior staff as associate provost before his return fulltime to the faculty. Learn more: https://www.ricsheffield.com/