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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Laura Maylene Walter
Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her writing has appeared in Poets & Writers, Kenyon Review, The Sun, Ninth Letter, The Masters Review, and many other publications. She has been a Tin House Scholar, a recipient of the Ohioana Library Association’s Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant, and a writer-in-residence at Yaddo, the Chautauqua Institution, and Art Omi: Writers. Laura works as a writer and editor for Cleveland Public Library, serves as editor-in-chief of Literary Cleveland’s Gordon Square Review, and blogs for the Kenyon Review. Body of Stars is her first novel.
David Wanczyk
I am a nonfiction writer (Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind) and literary journal editor (New Ohio Review), and I have taught English at Ohio University for the last 13 years. After studying at Holy Cross, I got my Masters in Poetry and Ph.D. in Creative Nonfiction at OU in Athens, where I continue to live with my wife Megan, my daughter, Natalie, my son, Benjamin, and the family heirloom—an autographed Pedro Martinez hat.
I’ve published somewhat widely, with poems in a dozen journals and essays in another half-dozen, and a couple scholarly articles about British fiction. In 2009, I began writing about unorthodox sports, which led to pieces in Salon, Slate, and theclassical.org, and eventually brought me in contact with Beep Baseball, or baseball for the blind.
In 2012, I watched my first Beep Baseball game, and I have followed the National Beep Baseball Association consistently ever since, reporting on the annual World Series and on the ups and downs of blind ballplayers for the Boston Globe Magazine, Texas Monthly, and Hobart. Some of the players came to call me “Book Dave,” and I’m happy to have that book, after quite a few years of revision, forthcoming from Ohio University’s Swallow Press.
Growing up in Western Massachusetts, I was a natural and diehard Red Sox fan, and I fancied myself a great young prospect. One Saturday morning, though, I gave up 27 runs in an inning, and (very slowly) I came to recognize that my future in sports was going to depend on a pen rather than a bat. While following Beep Baseball, I found that what I’m really interested in is the underdog story, and the search for unexpected, uncanny glory. While I covered those topics—once speaking about them on Taiwanese radio—I eventually realized that my obsessive interest in the sport was a way for me to think about the rigors of young parenthood, too, and about the role impracticality can play, and maybe needs to play, in my life.
Through my interviews with approximately 100 participants, and my travels to three countries to meet Beep Ballers, I developed a rapport with the players and sought only to tell an engaging story about them that refused to pigeonhole or patronize.
Andrea Wang
Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her picture book Watercress was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, the Ohioana Book Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, among other accolades. Her other books, The Many Meanings of Meilan, Luli and the Language of Tea, Magic Ramen, and The Nian Monster, have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She lives in Colorado with her family. For more information about Andrea and her books, visit https://andreaywang.com/.
Lindsay Ward
Lindsay Ward is the author and illustrator of over thirty books for kids. Her work has been reviewed in Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School and Library Journal, and the New York Times. Originally from San Jose, California, Lindsay now lives in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Peninsula, Ohio, with her husband and fellow author Frank Tupta, their three boys, their dog Sally, and a flock of ducks. Most days you can find her writing and drawing at home or running Lucky Duck Books, the publishing company she co-owns with her husband. Follow her on Instagram @lindsaymward
Jasmine Warga
Jasmine Warga is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Other Words for Home, a Newbery Honor Book and a Walter Honor Book for Younger Readers, and The Shape of Thunder. Her teen books, Here We Are Now and My Heart and Other Black Holes, have been translated into over twenty-five languages. She lives in the Chicago area with her family. You can visit Jasmine online at http://www.jasminewarga.com.
Elissa Washuta
Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a nonfiction writer. She is the author of White Magic, My Body Is a Book of Rules, and Starvation Mode. With Theresa Warburton, she is co-editor of the anthology Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. She’s a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient, a Creative Capital awardee, and an assistant professor of creative writing at the Ohio State University.
Sara Bennett Wealer
Sara grew up in Manhattan, Kansas (the “Little Apple”), where she sang in all the choirs and wrote for the high school newspaper. She majored in voice performance at the University of Kansas before transferring to journalism school and becoming a reporter covering everything from house fires to Hollywood premieres. She now works in marketing. Sara lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two daughters, and a growing menagerie of pets. When she’s not writing, you can find her at the ballet, or obsessively watching ballet on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Learn more at: https://www.sarabennettwealer.com/
Betty Weibel
Betty Weibel is the author of The Ohio Literary Trail – A Guide which will be released in May by The History Press/Arcadia. She has been a successful journalist, public relations professional and agency owner. During her career, she has promoted her home state of Ohio, earning national acclaim from the Public Relations Society of America for work on the Ohio Bicentennial celebration and Ohio Travel and Tourism. She volunteers her time as a board member for both the Ohioana Library Association and Ohio History Connection, which inspired her to develop a digital Ohio Literary Trail. Her love of travel writing lead to her new book.
A lifelong equestrian who resides in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Weibel researched and published her first nonfiction book, The Cleveland Grand Prix: An American Show Jumping First, in 2014 with The History Press/Arcadia Publishing. In 2019, she published the inspirational nonfiction book Little Victories: A True Story of the Healing Power of Horses, a story based in the therapeutic horsemanship world. For more information, visit bettyweibel.com.
Laura Grace Weldon
Laura Grace Weldon served as Ohio’s 2019 Poet of the Year and is the author of four books, most recently the Halcyon Poetry Prize winner, Portals. Her poetry and creative nonfiction appear in Diode, Verse Daily, Cultural Weekly, and others. She works as a book editor, teaches writing workshops, and maxes out her library card each week.
Marie Weller
Marie Weller and Paula Vertikoff are a dynamic duo committed to promoting social-emotional wellness for
children and the adults who support them. With a combined experience of fifty years in the field of education,
they have witnessed firsthand what research has confirmed – social emotional wellness plays an integral role in
academic achievement and overall success in life.
Their beloved “Cranium Critters” picture book series introduces two endearing characters who explore the
fascinating world of the brain and its crucial role in managing emotions, fostering focus, and accomplishing
goals. Scout, the brain’s safety pup, imparts valuable lessons to children on calming their minds and effectively
managing their emotions through mindfulness and other evidence-based techniques. Einstein, the brain’s head
thinker and problem solver, equips children with skills to overcome distractions and stay focused on what truly
matters.
Driven by their passion for empowering young minds, Marie and Paula founded Cranium Kids Media, to share
video lessons, stories, blog articles, and activities to help young people learn little life lessons and develop big
life skills needed to lead happier, healthier lives.
For more information and to explore their enriching content, please visit their website at
https://craniumkidsmedia.com/, and subscribe to their YouTube channel, which features additional video
lessons: https://www.youtube.com/@CraniumKidsMedia/videos.
They also offer valuable resources for educators on their Teachers Pay Teachers page:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cranium-Kids-Media.
Connect with them on Facebook or Instagram for updates and insights: @craniumkidsmedia and
@cranium.critters.
Marie resides in Columbus, Ohio, with her loving husband and takes pride in being a mother to three grown
children. Paula calls Hilliard, Ohio, her home, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and a feisty beagle
named Mila, who served as the inspiration for Scout, the brain’s safety pup.