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.
Darren Demaree
Darren C. Demaree grew up in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Miami University, and Kent State University. He is the author of twenty poetry collections, most recently Tongues Out in the Garden of Spectacle, (August 2023, Newcomer Press). He is the recipient of a Greater Columbus Arts Council Grant, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Best of the Net Anthology and Managing Editor of Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system, and living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children. https://darrencdemaree.com/.
Robert DeMott
RobeRt DeMott is the edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of english at ohio University and author or editor of many books, including Steinbeck’s Typewriter: Essays on His Art, Brief and Glorious Transit: Prose Poems, and Astream: American Writers on Fly Fishing. A flyfisherman for more than half a century, he is a Federation of Fly Fishers–certified casting instructor and life member of trout Unlimited. He lives in Athens, ohio, with writer and editor Kate Fox.
Christina Dendy
Christina Dendy is a children’s book author with a wide range of experience in the K-12 educational market, particularly in history and other social sciences. Her published works include the picture books Hide and Shh! (April 2023) and The Wall and the Wild (September 2021). When not writing and reading, Christina can be found exploring various rabbit holes in Dayton, Ohio, with her husband, three children, and their furry friends. She is represented by Daniel Cramer of Page Turner Literary Agency. Find her online at https://www.christinadendywrites.com/ or follow her on Twitter @cdendy76.
Guy L. Denny
Guy L. Denny is a retired chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. A former director of the Ohio Biological Survey, he is also a past president of the Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association.
Sally Derby
Sally Derby is the author of numerous children’s books. The inspiration for No Mush Today came from a young girl at Derby’s church, and from her own childhood dislike of cornmeal mush. Derby and her husband live in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the winner of the 2017 Juvenile/Middle Grade Ohioana Book Award for Jump Back, Paul.
Liz Deskins
Liz Deskins was a school librarian for thirty years, teaching at the elementary, high school, and college levels and is now an adjunct for Kent State University. She also serves as Curriculum Editor for the School Library Connection reVIEWS+ online journal, which helps to fuel her passion for writing on topics of interest to school librarians. Her first book collaboration with Christina Dorr was Linking Picture Book Biographies to National Content Standards: 200+ Lives to Explore (Libraries Unlimited 2015). Her newest book is LGBTQAI+ Books for Children and Teens: Providing a Window for All (ALA publications 2018). She just finished a third book for ALA, which will be published this fall.
Julia DeVillers
Julia DeVillers is a best selling author of fiction for young people. Her books include How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller,which was adapted into the Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep, directed by Paul Hoen. Her other books include the Trading Faces identical twins series with her co-author and identical Jennifer Roy, the Liberty Porter: First Daughter series and Princess of Gossip with co-author Sabrina Bryan of Disney’s Cheetah Girls and Dancing with the Stars.…
Read MoreJulia DeVillers is a best selling author of fiction for young people. Her books include How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller,which was adapted into the Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep, directed by Paul Hoen. Her other books include the Trading Faces identical twins series with her co-author and identical Jennifer Roy, the Liberty Porter: First Daughter series and Princess of Gossip with co-author Sabrina Bryan of Disney’s Cheetah Girls and Dancing with the Stars. Her next book will be Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker (Razorbill, 2013).
Jen Devon
Jen Devon writes cinematic contemporary romances about complicated, imperfect people finding their perfect match.A former biology academic and lecturer, she currently works in the tech industry and dreams of writing full-time. She’s an avid gardener, photographer, and boardgamer, a thrift store enthusiast and unapologetic nerd. She’s a mom of five (three kids, two rescue mutts) and lives in central Ohio with her engineer husband. https://jendevon.com/
Robb Forman Dew
Robb Forman Dew was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For the past thirty years she has lived in Williamstown, MA, where she lives with her husband, who is professor of history at Williams College. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Dew is the author of the novels Dale Loves Sophie to Death, for which she received the National Book Award; The Time of Her Life; Fortunate Lives; The Evidence Against Her; and, most recently, The Truth of the Matter; as well as a memoir, The Family Heart.
Read MoreRobb Forman Dew was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For the past thirty years she has lived in Williamstown, MA, where she lives with her husband, who is professor of history at Williams College. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Dew is the author of the novels Dale Loves Sophie to Death, for which she received the National Book Award; The Time of Her Life; Fortunate Lives; The Evidence Against Her; and, most recently, The Truth of the Matter; as well as a memoir, The Family Heart.
Srirupa Dhar
Srirupa Dhar is Indian by birth and has been living in the United States since 1998. She completed her M.A. and M.Phil. from University of Calcutta, India. She has a third Master’s degree in English with Technical Writing Certification from University of Alabama in Huntsville, U.S.A. Srirupa taught as a young college lecturer in Calcutta, West Bengal and as a junior high school teacher in Columbus, Ohio. She has also worked as an interpreter in Columbus. She is a voracious reader and takes an avid delight in many forms of art. Currently, she is a writer, primarily of fiction. Her debut novel called “For A Drop Of Rice-Water” has recently been published by a traditional publishing house. Some of her short stories have been published in “The Bangalore Review”, “The Seattle Star”, “The Statesman” and “Café Dissensus.” One of her short stories has been published in “Muffled Moans Unleashed”, an anthology on child abuse and sexual violence. Some of her nonfictional works have appeared in collections of essays. One of her distinguished nonfictional articles called “Self-realization of Women through Binaries in Chokher Bali and Ghare Baire” has been published in “Reading Rabindranath: The Myriad Shades of a Genius.” Occasionally, Srirupa acts in plays in Columbus. She is part of an amateur dramatic society.