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): Juvenile
Andrea Hall
Andrea Hall is an author and children’s book editor. She received a BA in English/creative writing from Miami University in Ohio. She’s a former book reviewer for the Ohioana Quarterly and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. When not writing, Andrea can be found crafting, baking, and reading. Raised in Ohio, Andrea currently lives in Chicago.
Steve Harpster
Steve Harpster lives in Cincinnati Ohio and travels the country teaching kids how to draw, create, and Imagine.
S.R.D. Harris
Author S.R.D. Harris has always been a reading fanatic! Ever since she was a young child and was featured in two children’s books, she has dreamed of becoming a published author. Through hard work and determination, she achieved that dream when she wrote and published her first book, Future Miss President. Harris co-writes with her youngest daughter, Camryn, and they currently have ten children’s books published and two more in production. Her mission is to write and publish high-quality, uplifting, empowering and diverse children’s books that will inspire a love of reading in all children! She has been featured on PBS/WOSU’s Broad & High TV Show (where you can listen here) and in many publications to date. Harris was honored as a Literacy Champion by Read for a Cause in April of 2021 and is a 2022/2023 and 2024 Ohioana Library Festival Featured Author. Harris and her husband have three daughters, and a rescued puppy named Gracie. Her fourth book Gracie’s Grace is in partnership with CHA Animal Shelter to benefit their mission to help homeless dogs and cats find loving homes. When they are not reading, writing, cooking, or traveling, they enjoy volunteering and giving back. They have donated hundreds of books to students all over Ohio and Harris enthusiastically visits schools to inspire and students! She believes all children can love reading if they connect with the right books for them. Her books are published internationally and can be found in local libraries and bookstores. You can follow her on her website srdharrisbooks.com and major social media channels @srdharrisbooks
Quartez Harris
Quartez Harris is a poet, teacher, and author. He was a Baldwin House Fellow and named Ohio Poet of the Year for his book We Made It to School Alive, and his poetry has garnered numerous accolades. He spent many years as a second grade teacher in the Cleveland public school system, and currently spends his time writing and teaching poetry workshops. He lives in Ohio with his wife and son.
Will Hillenbrand
Will Hillenbrand is a celebrated author and illustrator whose works include eighty picture books for young readers. In addition to his own self-illustrated titles, he has also illustrated the works of writers and retellers, including Verna Aardema, Judy Sierra, Margery Cuyler, Judith St. George, Phyllis Root, Jane Yolen, Karma Wilson and Jane Hillenbrand. Will has spent most of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up as the youngest of four boys. His childhood routines revolved around the neighborhood, his parents’ barbershop, the Northern Hills Library, playing baseball, and drawing. He now works in a small studio in the upstairs of his Cape Cod home, which he shares with his wife, Jane, a kindergarten teacher. Their son Ian, a geologist, is an avid reader and writer of many published scientific papers. Currently, he is doing postdoctoral work at the United States Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado. School Library Journal said: “There’s not a word out of place in this blustery adventure. It’s a masterful collaboration of illustration and text. This cozy winter tale, with its striking pictures, may appear to be cold but is quite the opposite,” about his book The Voice In The Hollow. Learn more at http://www.willhillenbrand.com.
Kate Hoefler
Kate Hoefler was born and still lives and writes in the rolling hills of Ohio’s Appalachia. She is the author of numerous books and loves the delicate tightrope that picture books stand on between the light that is and the light that could be. Three of her recent books, Rabbit and the Motorbike, Courage Hats, and In The Dark were Ohioana Floyd’s Pick Honor books. Her newest book, The Couch In The Yard, might allow readers to travel above and beyond their couches (wink-wink). She loves small dogs, pottery, being an introvert, and cheese. Follow her on Instagram: @katehoefler
Kerrie Logan Hollihan
Author Kerrie Hollihan writes award-winning nonfiction for kids and teens. Her new book is BONES UNEARTHED!, third in the Creepy and True series for Abrams Books for Young Readers. Following GHOSTS UNVEILED! The first, MUMMIES EXPOSED!, garnered four four-star reviews.
Kerrie’s books have been honored as “notables” by the Children’s Book Council/National Council for the Social Studies and more. She’s especially thrilled that Mummies! is accessible for vision impaired readers through the Library of Congress. Her very first book, ISAAC NEWTON & PHYSICS FOR KIDS, has been printed in six languages.
Kerrie belongs to the highly regarded nonfiction author group iNK Think Tank and its interactive partner, Authors on Call – http://www.inkthinktank.org. Catch her three-minute talks about lots of things at iNK’s Nonfiction Minute, https://www.nonfictionminute.org.
Kerrie enjoys meeting young readers during school visits both in person and on the web. She offers kid-friendly activities with other nonfiction authors at Hands-on-Books, http://hands-on-books.blogspot.com/.
Kerrie also reaches out to inquisitive older adults–historical societies, book groups, and more–with programs speaking to their life experience. Get in touch on her contact page: https://kerriehollihan.com/contact/
Michelle Houts
Michelle Houts is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for young readers, ranging from colorful, engaging picture books to adventurous middle-grade novels. Her newest book, HOPEFULLY THE SCARECROW (Flamingo Philomel, 2023) celebrates the power of hope and friendship when a scarecrow finds he has little control over his circumstances. Houts writes from a restored 1894 one-room schoolhouse. She is the creator of the 52 Letter Challenge. When she’s not writing, she is editing or encouraging young readers and writers through school visits and workshops.
Annie Hunter Eriksen
Annie Hunter Eriksen is from Wooster, Ohio. Originally from Columbus, she came for the College of Wooster (’13), but stayed after falling in love with Wooster’s undeniable charm and realizing this town has the best ice cream in the world. Annie lives and breathes comics, cats, and coffee and had her first son in November 2022, whom she named after a superhero. Along Came a Radioactive Spider is about famed Marvel artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man. This is her second book. Find Annie at http://www.aheriksen.com and on Instagram at @ah_eriksen.