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.
R.C. Durkee
R.C. Durkee is both a writer and an artist who blends her love of history, nature and the rural life into her creative projects. The sixth generation to have lived on the family’s 182 year old farm, she has raised horses, sheep, cows and crops. She is also an avid gardener.
An award winning artist, her artwork has appeared on magazine covers, in art books and in art galleries in Ohio and beyond. She has written and published short stories and essays for over twenty-five years, and her debut novel, published in 2014, is the historical fiction, RUM RUN set during 1920’s Prohibition. It has received many rave reviews including Midwest Book Review, the Historical Novel Society and the Great Lakes Historical Society. She painted the book’s dramatic cover design at the suggestion of her publisher.
RUM RUN was selected to participate in the 2015 Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus, Ohio where she participated in a panel discussion on historical fiction and attended a reception at the governor’s residence. She has done many programs on her novel and Lake Erie Prohibition history at libraries, societies and continuing education courses as well as book and writing club talks.
Her interests are historical places and buildings, classics cars, hiking and biking and star- gazing. She particularly enjoys studying 17th though early 20th Century American history and visiting related sites with her husband who shares her interest in the the Civil War. For more information about Durkee, go to her website at rcdurkee.com.
Lynda Durrant
Lynda Durrant is a nationally known, award-winning author of historic fiction novels for young readers. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. They’ve been praised in The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, The Hornbook, and School Library Journal. Her novels have received awards from The Ohioana Library Association, The New York Library Association, and the American Library Association, among others. Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington, is her first picture book. Durrant lives with her husband and son in Bath, Ohio. She has a bachelors’ degree in honor’s English and a double masters in teaching and writing, all from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Joyce Dyer
Joyce Dyer is a nonfiction writer who was raised in Akron. Her books include In a Tangled Wood: An Alzheimer’s Journey, Gum Dipped: A Daughter Remembers Rubber Town, and Goosetown: Reconstructing an Akron Neighborhood. Her essays have appeared in publications such as the North American Review and the New York Times, as well as anthologies. She has taught English and writing at Western Reserve Academy and Hiram College—where she directed the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature. She’s received prizes such as the Appalachian Book of the Year Award, the David B. Saunders Award in Creative Nonfiction, and Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. Pursuing John Brown: On the Trail of a Radical Abolitionist (2022), her new book, is a mix of memoir, biography, history, and travel writing and begins in Hudson, where John Brown grew up—and where the author now lives. To understand her ambivalence toward this controversial American figure, she sets out on a ten-year journey to John Brown sites across the country. The process forces her to confront hard questions about America—and herself.
Marianne Dyson
Marianne Dyson was one of NASA’s first female flight controllers, the subject of her 2015 memoir, A Passion for Space. She coauthored the NSTA 2016 Outstanding Trade Book, Welcome to Mars, with Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin for National Geographic. She previously won the SCBWI’s Golden Kite Award for Space Station Science, and the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for Home on the Moon. She has worked as a technical editor, published numerous articles and short stories for adults, and has spoken to tens of thousands of people about space. She is a member of SCBWI, SFWA, the NASA Alumni League, and the National Space Society. Visit her online at http://www.mdyson.com.
Mary Beth Earnheardt
M.B. Earnheardt lives in Youngstown, Ohio, transplanted from her childhood home in Mahaffey, PA, where she grew up on a small farm, surrounded by trees and books. Although she has written a smattering of academic articles and news stories, Switch-A-Wish is her first work of fiction.
When she’s not writing, Earnheardt directs the Anderson Program in Journalism at Youngstown State University, and teaches journalism courses in media law and news reporting. She advises the student newspaper, preparing the next generation of great storytellers. When she’s not teaching, she helps her husband, Dr. Adam C. Earnheardt, raise their four lab experiments (re: kids) in a Petri dish they call “home.”
Earnheardt earned a Ph.D. in communication studies from Kent State University, a M.S. degree in communication, B.S. in communication, and a B.A. in political science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Her blog is available at mbearnheardt.com.
Jeffrey Ebbeler
Jeff Ebbeler has been creating art for children for almost twenty years. He and his wife Eileen both attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He has illustrated over 50 children’s books. Jeff has given many lectures and demonstrations in grade-schools, colleges, and museums about the process of bringing words to life through pictures. Jeff and his family currently live in Cincinnati.
D. Rose Eder
D. Rose Elder teaches ethnomusicology and humanities at Ohio State-ATI, Wooster OH. Growing up in Shaker Heights, the experience of meeting real Shakers as well as members of other surrounding religious communities resulted in her lifelong interest in how a religion influences the daily lives of its practitioners. Her current research is based in Ghana, West Africa, where she annually leads an Ohio State-ATI study abroad tour. Her spouse Peter teaches at Kenyon College and her three wonderful children live and work in Columbus and Wooster.
Scott Edwards
Scott Edwards is an advertising creative director and copywriter. He studied communications and film history at The University of Pennsylvania, and has attended many industry events, including The Cannes Film Festival, The Toronto International Film Festival and The Cleveland International Film Festival. He has an extensive collection of cinema collectibles and memorabilia, which began when he entered the movie business at age eleven changing marquees, selling popcorn and sweeping aisles at a small neighborhood theatre managed by his father in upstate New York.
Kathy S. Elasky
Kathy S Elasky is a retired teacher/counselor from SE Ohio. She lives on a small farm with her husband, dogs, one cat, several squirrels and the occasional raccoon and possum. She loves reading to her grandkids, sewing, church activities and of course writing and illustrating books.
Nathan Elias
Nathan Elias grew up in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of The Reincarnations: Stories and the forthcoming novel Coil Quake Rift (Montag Press, 2020/21). He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, his writing has been nominated for the Puschart Prize and Best Microfiction, and he was a finalist of The Saturday Evening Post 2020 Great American Fiction Contest. His short fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews have appeared in publications such as PANK, Entropy, Hobart, Pithead Chapel, and Barnstorm. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and rescue dog.