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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C. L. Pauwels
C.L. (Cyndi) Pauwels is hoping that, as she plows through her sixth decade, she’ll eventually figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. Her crime fiction Toledo Trilogy (Forty & Out (2014), Burned Bridges (2018), and Unwelcome Ties (2023)) draws on her nearly twenty years’ experience working in the criminal justice field in Toledo, Ohio.Read More
C. F. Payne
C. F. Payne has illustrated more than a dozen picture books, including the New York Times bestselling Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark Kelly, the Texas Bluebonnet winner Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, written by Phil Bildner, and the New York Times bestsellers The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, both by John Lithgow.…Read More
Shelley Pearsall
Shelley Pearsall is the nationally-recognized author of seven fiction novels for readers in grades 4 to 8. Her novels, All of the Above, and The Seventh Most Important Thing, were ALA Notable Books. Trouble Don't Last was the winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and an Ohioana award winner. Shelley's books are frequent choices for community and all-school reads.…Read More
Carlotta Penn
Carlotta Penn has loved writing since she was a young girl. At age eight she wrote in her diary, “I love to write books. I am an author.” Now all grown up, she has written several picture books, including Bright Boy ABCs and The Turtle With an Afro series. She plans to write many more.…Read More
David Pepper
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Nomar Perez
Nomar Perez was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, in the city of Ponce, and moved with his parents and five siblings to Ohio when he was ten. Nomar is heavily influenced by all types of media, most especially animation, puppetry, and computer art. He studied computer animation and painting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and since then has worked as a designer, illustrator, and art director on social expression products in the categories of humor, children, and young adults.…Read More
Ashley Hope Pérez
Ashley Hope Pérez grew up in Texas and is the author of three award-winning novels for young adults. Out of Darkness received a Printz Honor and the Tomás Rivera Book Award. She is an assistant professor of world literatures at The Ohio State University and lives in Columbus with her two sons.Read More
Morgan Perryman
Morgan Perryman is a new author from the Midwestern United States. She is a true bibliophile, who has always had a love for books. Morgan has a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's Degree in English, who previously taught 7th and 8th-grade reading and writing.She is a mother of three and comes from a huge family.…Read More
Brian Petkash
Brian Petkash was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Tampa and his stories have appeared in Midwestern Gothic and Southword, among other publications. He currently lives in Tampa, Florida, where he remains an avid fan of Cleveland sports.Read More
Susan Petrone
Susan Petrone is the author of the The Heebie-Jeebie Girl (2020,) The Super Ladies (2018), Throw Like a Woman (2015), and A Body at Rest (2009), which won a bronze medal for regional fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY). The Super Ladies was a General Fiction finalist in Foreward Reviews’ 2018 Book of the Year Awards.…Read More