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): Adult
Bayyinah Monk-Nduaka
If you know Bayyinah, you know that her greatest passions in life are family & friends, travel, writing, cooking, entrepreneurship and helping others. It is Bayyinah’s desire to connect people with their life’s passion and calling through living a happy and whole life through food and healthy relationships. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Bayyinah began writing at the age of twelve and in 1994, she won a scholarship to attend Young Writer’s at Kenyon College. There she honed her writing passions. Eventually she took advanced placement and college preparatory literature and writing courses. And in 2003, Bayyinah graduated from Otterbein University with B.S. in Business and Economics. Later, in 2006, she received her A.A. in Mortuary Science from Briarwood College. Inspired by her mother and family, Bayyinah is a self-taught cook. Her passion is creating recipes, cooking good food and feeding her family and friends. In 2015, Bayyinah became a two-time Amazon best selling and award winning author. When Bayyinah is not working, writing, cooking or world traveling – she is somewhere having a good ole’ time with her husband Obinna Nduaka and family. She currently reside in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area. Learn more at: https://www.gimmethatrecipe.com/
Jess Montgomery
Jess Montgomery is the author of the Kinship Historical Mysteries, set in 1920s Appalachian Ohio and inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff. Under her given name, she writes the “Level Up Your (Writing) Life” column for Writer’s Digest. She was formerly a newspaper columnist, focusing on the literary life, authors and events of her native Dayton, Ohio for the Dayton Daily News.…
Read MoreJess Montgomery is the author of the Kinship Historical Mysteries, set in 1920s Appalachian Ohio and inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff. Under her given name, she writes the “Level Up Your (Writing) Life” column for Writer’s Digest. She was formerly a newspaper columnist, focusing on the literary life, authors and events of her native Dayton, Ohio for the Dayton Daily News. She is a three-time recipient of the Individual Excellence Award in Literary Arts from Ohio Arts Council, a two-time recipient of the Montgomery County (Ohio) Arts & Cultural District (MCAD) Artist Opportunity Grant, and has been a John E. Nance Writer in Residence at Thurber House (Columbus, Ohio). Learn more at: https://jessmontgomeryauthor.com/
Ruth Hanford Morhard
Ruth Hanford Morhard was memorizing the batting and earned run averages of Major League baseball players and reading baseball books when most young girls were playing with dolls. A native of Connecticut, she grew up a rabid fan of the Boston Red Sox, changing her allegiance to the Cleveland Indians when she moved to Ohio, ever hopeful of a long-awaited World Series win!
Combining her love of baseball with another passion, writing, it seems natural that she would one day write a book about baseball. MRS. MORHARD AND THE BOYS is that book—about a single mom who created the first boys’ baseball leagues in the depths of the Great Depression to help her son overcome the trauma of his early childhood. The book will be published on February 26, 2019 by Citadel Press, just in time for spring training and the start of the baseball season!
Career-wise, she’s been a senior executive with major philanthropic and arts institutions and currently serves as a consultant to national, regional and local institutions. Her work in early childhood education led to her practical nonfiction book, “Wired to Move: Facts and Strategies for Nurturing Boys in Early Childhood Settings,” published in 2013. She has a Certificate in Creative Nonfiction from Stanford University and a BA degree from Skidmore College.
She lives in Chardon, Ohio with her husband Al, son of the Mrs. Morhard of the book title.
Doug Motz
Doug Motz is the Past President of the Columbus Historical Society and continues to give tours of the core city for CHS. He is the co-author Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus. He writes a “History Lesson” column for the website columbusunderground.com and gives a monthly local history quiz on the local ABC affiliate WSYX’ morning television program, Good Day Columbus. When not researching Columbus History, he spends his time singing with the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus which he serves as Vice-President.
David Mould
David Mould, professor emeritus of media arts and studies at Ohio University, has traveled widely in Asia and southern Africa as a trainer, consultant, and researcher, and has written articles and essays for newspapers, magazines and online media. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the US in 1978. Postcards from the Borderlands is his third book on travel, history and culture. Kirkus Reviews describes him as “A genial travel guide … an academic who does not write like an academic.”
Luma Mufleh
LUMA MUFLEH is the founder of Fugees Family, with schools now in Georgia and Ohio and an expanding footprint bringing educational equity to refugee resettlement communities across America. Her TED Talk on educational justice for refugee families was viewed more than 1.7 million times. Learn more at: https://fugeesfamily.org/about/luma-mufleh/
Patricia Colleen Murphy
Patricia Colleen Murphy founded Superstition Review at Arizona State University, where she teaches creative writing and magazine production. She won the 2019 Press 53 Award for Poetry with her collection Bully Love, published as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection. Her collection Hemming Flames (Utah State University Press) won the 2016 May Swenson Poetry Award, judged by Stephen Dunn, and the 2017 Milt Kessler Poetry Award. A chapter from her memoir-in-progress was published as a chapbook by New Orleans Review. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Brian Michael Murphy
Brian Michael Murphy is the author of We the Dead: Preserving Data at the End of the World, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2022. He is Dean of the College at Bennington College, Managing and Nonfiction Editor of Northwest Review, and Director of the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop. His essays and poems have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Lapham’s Quarterly, Kenyon Review, Media-N, Narrative, and in Italian translation in Ácoma. A Fulbright Scholar, his work has also been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council, and the Ohio Arts Council. He is a founding board member of Outpost, a residency for BIPOC writers from the U.S. and Latin America. Learn more here: https://www.brianmichaelmurphy.com/
Greg Murray
In case you couldn’t tell, Greg loves animals, especially dogs. He is a published and award winning animal photographer and advocate living in the Cleveland, Ohio area with his wife Kristen and their two rescue dogs, Leo and Kensie. Greg is best known for the “Peanut Butter Dogs” book which depicts the hilarity of dogs enjoying, you guessed it, peanut butter. He has been featured by Today, Huffington Post, Elle, People and more. Greg is dedicated to animal rescue, adoption and pit bull terrier advocacy. Born and raised in Lakewood, Ohio, Greg spent 10 yrs working in the corporate world before becoming a starting his own business in 2014 and becoming a full-time photographer focusing on animals.
Theofania Music
Theofania Music is a classically trained lifetime pianist and composer since the age of four. As a lifelong writer and photographer, her photography and vulnerable poetry have only privately accompanied her compositions until now!
Theofania’s lifetime of manuscripts, prints, and compositions thus far, made for an idea of this compilation of poetry and photography.…
Read MoreTheofania Music is a classically trained lifetime pianist and composer since the age of four. As a lifelong writer and photographer, her photography and vulnerable poetry have only privately accompanied her compositions until now!
Theofania’s lifetime of manuscripts, prints, and compositions thus far, made for an idea of this compilation of poetry and photography. She encompasses a commitment to tell the story through light and sound, and to awaken and evoke feelings and thoughts to the listener and reader.
Theofania Music’s life’s work is transforming light and sound with a hope to connect humanity with nature. She has decades of experience creating a unique individual genre of “Raw-Piano”. Theofania Music has released five albums and three singles… all available on various musical platforms. Her single Perfect Geometry is reaching far beyond her expectations.
She is a gallery solo artist who brings a unique journey to the public, exhibiting her photography and music. A Vinyasa, Hatha, and Yin Yoga practitioner and instructor, Theofania believes that the journey of music, art, and literature runs through us all in mind, body, and soul. Theofania is currently recording new albums to be released while fine-tuning her composed classical full-length musical Symphony. Her composing continues, and her writings continue as a life’s-long novel is in the works.
Feel free to connect to Theofania Music at http://www.theofaniamusic.com @theofaniamusic on social media platforms.
“As long as I am able, I wish to share with all of humanity, the beauty in everything which I can hear and see.” – Theofania Music
“Everything is Connected” – Theofania Music
ENDURE MY COMPANY by THEOFANIA MUSIC
The complete first edition of poetry and photography from piano composer Theofania Music.
Have you ever desired to know what a composer thinks of at the time in which they compose a piece of music? Have you wondered what a music’s journey would be like from the moment a composer hears or sees a melody to when you hear the music? This is a glimpse into a composer’s life using poetry and photography.
Theofania Music walks alongside the reader… sharing emotional moments and imaginative awareness through each turned page. These poetic works evoke feelings of love and life, of beauty and sadness, of isolation and romance, of equations and time, of awakening and humanity, and so many more issues and passions.
The reader is able to walk with the composer through nature, allowing an incredible experience of poetical ideas and elusive thoughts, from constructing images through words and sound. At the same time, Theofania Music shows the reader to see the music of the prose as she weaves reflection and light in the form of photography.
A true journey of light and sound is experienced as composer Theofania Music opens a door to her world, hands you a cup of coffee or tea, and shares playful, philosophical ideas, extraordinary photography, and seriously vulnerable and intellectual poetry.