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.
Cathy Studer
Cathy Studer is the award-winning author of Broken to Beautifully Whole, a mental health advocate, child abuse prevention advocate, and speaker. As an advocate and speaker, she is passionate about helping children and adults unlock, cultivate, and reach their full potential by developing stronger mental and emotional health. She lives in Ohio with her husband and their yellow lab, Levi. Cathy loves spending time with her two adult children and grand dogs.
Walt Sturgeon
Walt Sturgeon is a field mycologist with over forty years of experience studying and identifying mushrooms. His photos of mushroom and fungi, some award-winning, can be seen in numerous mushroom field guide publications, three of which he coauthored. One of these, Mushrooms of the Northeast, was awarded the best field guide of 2016 by the National Outdoor Writers Association.
Tracy Subisak
Tracy Subisak is the Taiwanese and Polish American author-illustrator of award-winning Jenny Mei Is Sad. She has also illustrated many books, including: This Book Is Not For You!, by Shannon Hale, and Amah Faraway, by Margaret Chiu Greanais. Tracy lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, her dog Lala, and many, many plants. You can visit her online at tracysubisak.com and on Instagram at @tracysubisak.
Sam Subity
Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid and is thrilled to share his writing with readers everywhere—both the young in age and the young at heart. When he’s not writing, you might find him running the trails of northern California where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery. Or he might be mowing his lawn. Because that’s what adults sometimes have to do. But in either case, Sam is very likely imagining himself fighting mythical creatures or at the prow of a dragon ship feeling the wind and sea spray on his face alongside his own Viking queen and their two Vikelets. His greatest hope is that in reading his books, you too may be transported to another place where, for a little while, you can exchange the ordinary for the extraordinary. https://www.samsubity.com
Jeff Suess
Jeff Suess is the author of Lost Cincinnati and Hidden History of Cincinnati (The History Press) and the librarian of the Cincinnati Enquirer, where he keeps the newspaper archive and writes about Cincinnati history. He regularly does presentations on local history and leads discussions on graphic novels at the Mercantile Library and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Jeff also writes fiction and has had stories published by Pocket Books, Post Mortem Press and DC Comics.
Jeff grew up in Modesto, California, and graduated from San Francisco State University. He lives in White Oak on Cincinnati’s West Side with his wife, Kristin, and their daughter, Dashiell.
Marilou Suszko
Marilou Suszko is a journalist, food writer, culinary educator, and author of books including Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate (Hippocrene 2007), The Locavore’s Kitchen (Swallow Press 2011), and Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years & Still Cooking (University of Akron Press), which she coauthored with Laura Taxel.…
Read MoreMarilou Suszko is a journalist, food writer, culinary educator, and author of books including Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate (Hippocrene 2007), The Locavore’s Kitchen (Swallow Press 2011), and Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years & Still Cooking (University of Akron Press), which she coauthored with Laura Taxel. Her work has been published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Our Ohio, and Ohio Magazine as well as regional and national publications.
Joe Sutphin
Joe Sutphin is an illustrator and cartoonist of books for young readers. His work includes the Eisner Award winning Watership Down: The Graphic Novel, based on the beloved book by Richard Adams, as well as the re-envisioned, illustrated classics Little Pilgrim’s Progress and Little Christmas Carol. Joe lives in Central Ohio with his wife Gina and five amazing cats.…
Read MoreJoe Sutphin is an illustrator and cartoonist of books for young readers. His work includes the Eisner Award winning Watership Down: The Graphic Novel, based on the beloved book by Richard Adams, as well as the re-envisioned, illustrated classics Little Pilgrim’s Progress and Little Christmas Carol. Joe lives in Central Ohio with his wife Gina and five amazing cats. Learn more at joesutphin.com
Paul M. Sutter
Paul M. Sutter is the cosmological researcher and community outreach coordinator for the Department of Astronomy and The Ohio State University. He is also the chief scientist at the COSI Science Center (Center of Science and Industry). As a new, fresh voice in science communication and an astrophysicist, writer, speaker, producer, and on-air host of podcasts and TV programs, Sutter strives to bring science to new audiences. He is the creator of the Ask a Spaceman! podcast, a contributing editor to Space.com, and the founder of Active Galaxy Productions, a company that blends science with art in groundbreaking ways. Sutter has authored over sixty academic papers on topics ranging from the earliest moments of the Big Bang, to the emptiest places in the universe, to novel methods for detecting the first stars. He has given over 100 seminars, colloquia, and conference talks at institutions around the world. Watch him on YouTube, listen to him on Space Radio, and follow him on social media. Details can be found at http://www.pmsutter.com/outreach.
Jordan Riley Swan
Jordan Riley Swan is a wild word hunter living in the far and dangerous reaches of rural Ohio. He spends his nights tracking down big-game stories, capturing them in paper cages, and training them to be better tales. The Heart’s Bidding was the first novel he’d dared to use the keys of his typewriter to release back into the wild.
S. Andrew Swann
S. Andrew Swann is the pen name of Steven Swiniarski. He’s married and lives in the Greater Cleveland area where he has lived all of his adult life. He has a background in mechanical engineering and—besides writing—works as a Database Manager for one of the largest private child services agencies in the Cleveland area. He has published over 20 novels since 1993, which include science fiction, fantasy and horror. Currently he is working on the Dragon* series of light fantasy novels for DAW books, the first of which, Dragon•Princess, came out May 2014. The second, Dragon•Thief is expected in 2015.