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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Joel Rudiger
Joel Rudinger was born 1938 in Cleveland, OH and raised in Toledo, OH from 1945-1960. He left Ohio to study in Alaska and Iowa and returned to Ohio in 1966.
A graduate of the University of Alaska, the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop, and Bowling Green State University, Joel Rudinger taught at the Bowling Green State University–Firelands College in Huron, Ohio from 1967 to 2012. In addition to his fourth book of poetry, Symphonia Judaica: Jewish Symphony and Other Poems, he published First Edition: 40 Poems, Lovers and Celebrations, I Am the Hero of My Story, and the Inuit folk-based legend Sedna: Goddess of the Sea. He started the Cambric Press in 1971 and was editor-publisher of the Firelands Review and of the Cambric Poetry Projects. Income from sales and donations to the Firelands Review were transferred in 2013 to fund and endow the Rudinger Foundation Creative Arts Scholarship program.
Joel Rudinger has published numerous poems and stories in magazines such as the New York Quarterly, Colorado Review, Cornfield Review, The Heartlands Today, The Plough: North Coast Review, and New Waves. He has also illustrated several books published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. He is currently a BGSU Professor emeritus and Poet Laureate of Huron, OH, and is working on a memoir of his early Alaskan years.
Clayton Ruminski
Clayton J. Ruminski is the Archival Specialist at Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware.
Philip Craig Russell
Over the last forty years, illustrator, artist, and graphic novelist Philip Craig Russell, also known as P. Craig Russell, or by the acronym he often signs under: PCR, has run the gamut in comics, illustrating everything from Batman, Star Wars, and Conan to a series of adaptations of classic operas, a Jungle Book series, and an ongoing series adapting the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde.…
Read MoreOver the last forty years, illustrator, artist, and graphic novelist Philip Craig Russell, also known as P. Craig Russell, or by the acronym he often signs under: PCR, has run the gamut in comics, illustrating everything from Batman, Star Wars, and Conan to a series of adaptations of classic operas, a Jungle Book series, and an ongoing series adapting the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde. Russell’s graphic novel adaptations of Neil Gaiman novels, including Sandman: The Dream Hunters and Coraline have received high acclaim. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. After establishing a name for himself at Marvel on Killraven and Dr. Strange, he went on to become one of the pioneers in opening new vistas in the field of graphic novels. Among his other works are the adaptations of operas by Mozart, The Magic Flute, Strauss, Salome, and Wagner, The Ring of the Nibelung. Russell’s artwork has been noted for its lush line, attention to detail, and classical themes with a heavy influence from the Art Nouveau and Romantic fine art traditions. Russell was born in Wellsville, Ohio and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a degree in painting. He collects Fiestaware and currently makes his home in Kent, Ohio. View Russell’s artwork on his website, http://www.artofpcraigrussell.com/.
Mary Doria Russell
Widely praised for meticulous research, fine prose, and the compelling narrative drive of her stories, Mary Doria Russell is the award-winning author of six bestselling novels, including the science fiction classics The Sparrow and Children of God; the World War II thriller, A Thread of Grace; and a political romance set in 1921 Cairo called Dreamers of the Day. With her latest novels, Doc and Epitaph, Russell has redefined two towering figures of the American West: the lawman Wyatt Earp and the dental surgeon Doc Holliday. The daughter of a sheriff, Mary grew up with cops and guns but also holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan and taught anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry.
Blythe Russo
Blythe Russo is an author-illustrator currently living just outside Cincinnati, Ohio. When she’s not making books, you can find her sewing, building puppets, or in the kitchen on a never-ending quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Visit her at https://www.blytherussoillustration.com/
Marilyn Sadler
In 1983, Marilyn Sadler created the Alistair series of children’s books for Hamish Hamilton in London, England and for Simon & Schuster in the United States. The books have been featured throughout the years in Cricket Magazine and the Book-of-the-Month Club.
Shortly thereafter, the P.J. Funnybunny collection of children’s books was published under the Dr. Seuss Beginner Books logo for Random House. “It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny” received an International Classroom Choice Award its first year. Since that time, fifteen books have been added to the series.
Marilyn has also had a variety of other characters and series published with Western Publishing and Troll Publishing
Marilyn’s television credits include two PBS Reading Rainbow programs featuring Alistair, an Alistair program for the BBC, three ABC Weekend Specials featuring P.J. Funnybunny, and a show based on her children’s book, Elizabeth and Larry, for Showtime’s Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.
Between 1999 and 2004, The Disney Channel produced three Original Movies based on Marilyn’s book, Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century. Each of Disney’s Zenon movies had exceptionally high ratings, with Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century and Zenon the Zequel among the highest rated shows in the history of The Disney Channel. According to Nielsen Media Research, the Zenon movies reached an audience of more than 10 million viewers.
In 2004, Playhouse Disney began production on Marilyn’s animated series, Handy Manny. Handy Manny premiered September 16, 2006, as the highest rated Playhouse Disney series premiere of all time. Since its debut, Handy Manny averages approximately 2 million viewers a week, has generated consistent critical acclaim and developed a deeply loyal audience.
In 2009, Marilyn was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Handy Manny in the category of “Outstanding Special Class Animated Program”.
In 2015, Harper Collins Publishers released the first of a series of math-based detective stories featuring Charlie Piechart by Eric Comstock and Marilyn. Titles include, “The Missing Pizza Slice”, “The Missing Hat” and “The Missing Dog”.
Visit Marilyn at: marilynsadler.net
Yolonda Tonette Sanders
Ohio native Yolonda Tonette Sanders is an Essence magazine bestselling author with six novels to her credit, including Shadow of Death. She is also the founder and CEO of Yo Productions, LLC, a theatrical entertainment and literary services company that expanded its repertoire in 2015 to include publishing. A graduate of Capital University and later The Ohio State University, Yolonda once worked for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office until she quit in 2004 to focus more on writing. It’s a move that she has never regretted. As a writer, Yolonda enjoys the challenge of developing and completing projects that interest and inspire readers. As a speaker, she has been invited to address audiences across the country regarding various topics and appreciates the opportunities she has to connect with people from all walks of life. As a business owner, Yolonda seeks to help other writers develop and perfect their works. In addition to writing, Yolonda likes watching movies, exercising, and spending time with her family. Her favorite people on earth are her husband, David, and her two teenage children, Tre and Tia.
Craig Sanders
Craig Sanders is an author, educator and historian living with his wife Mary Ann Whitley in University Heights, Ohio. He is the author of six books focusing on railroad history. His most recent book, Cleveland Mainline Railroads, was published in February 2014 by Arcadia Publishing. Arcadia also published three others books that he wrote: Canton Area Railroads (2009), Mattoon and Charleston Area Railroads (2008) and Akron Railroads (2007). He is the author two books published by Indiana University Press: Amtrak in the Heartland (2006) and Limited Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838-1971 (2003).
He is a frequent contributor to Trains magazine and is president of the Akron Railroad Club. Aside from writing, he enjoys traveling and photography.
He is a frequent contributor of feature articles to Trains magazine and is president of the Akron Railroad Club. He is the webmaster of the ARRC website, http: akronrrclub.wordpress.com/ which presents news, features and photographs about railroad and public transportation operations in Ohio and surrounding states.
Sanders has been a journalist and taught journalism, public relations and mass communications for more than 30 years. He worked as a reporter and copy editor at daily newspapers in Mattoon, Illinois; Bloomington, Indiana; Evansville, Indiana; and Indianapolis. His essays on the life in higher education and issues in journalism appear frequently on his LinkedIn page.
He has taught at Cleveland State University, Kent State University, John Carroll University, Penn State University, Indiana University and the University of Southern Indiana. He earned a Ph.D. in mass communications and an M.A. in journalism from Indiana University, an M.A. in political studies from Sangamon State University (now University of Illinois-Springfield), and a B.A. in history and political science from Eastern Illinois University. For more information about Sanders, check out his website at csanders429.wordpress.com
Suzanne Sanders Overstreet
Suzanne Sanders Overstreet is the Creative Writing Program Coordinator at Oberlin College, and previously wrote special interest stories for a local newspaper. After taking creative writing classes at Oberlin, her lifelong interest in preserving stories was renewed. After her father passed away, she was concerned the stories he told about his childhood and experiences in WWII would be forgotten, so she wrote Wait For Me. As she unearthed facts during the course of her research, there were some disappointing surprises about what truly happened many decades ago. She has seven children and lives on a farm in northeast Ohio with her husband, a dog and four cats.
Rikki Santer
Rikki Santer’s poetry has appeared in numerous publications both nationally and abroad including Ms. Magazine, Poetry East, The Journal of American Poetry, Hotel Amerika, Crab Orchard Review, Grimm, Slipstream and The Main Street Rag. Her work has received many honors including five Pushcart and three Ohioana book award nominations as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her eighth collection, Drop Jaw, inspired by the art of ventriloquism, was published by NightBallet Press in the spring of 2020.