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): 2016
Colleen Clayton
Colleen Clayton is the critically acclaimed author of the YA novel What Happens Next, which was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award. She grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and worked as a social worker in residential treatment centers for troubled teens and as Program Supervisor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mahoning Valley. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Northeast Ohio Consortium (NEOMFA) and teaches fiction writing and composition at Youngstown State University. She was recently contracted by YSU’s Special Education Department to teach an online summer writing course for 4th and 5th graders. As part of the project, she wrote eight online picture books for the students and then helped them craft their own stories using the free, educational platform Storybird. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQSxqNyJHkZdqzDo5QOXfg
Colleen can speak on a number of subjects, including date rape, bullying, eating disorders, feminist issues in young adult literature, and ADHD, and can lead an hour-long creative writing workshop for grades 3 through 12 as well as for adults. She has facilitated in-service workshops for librarians and teachers as well.
In-Service Testimonial from Jennifer Holt, Librarian at Willoughby South High School:
“Colleen’s story starting exercise was fun and inspiring! It fostered creative interplay between my original ideas and the surprising places my colleagues took them.”
For more on Colleen, go to her website at colleenclayton.com.
Dawn Combs
Dawn Combs is an ethnobotanist with over 20 years experience in botanical based wellness. Dawn is a nationally respected educator and speaker, an online and in print contributor to several national magazines, co-owner of Mockingbird Meadows and Director of its educational programs. She lives on a farm in Central Ohio with her husband, Carson, and two children, Aidan and Jacy. Dawn is the author of Conceiving Healthy Babies: An Herbal Guide to Support Preconception, Pregnancy and Lactation, and Heal Local, 20 Essential Herbs for Do-it-Yourself Home Healthcare.
Joseph Congeni
Joseph Congeni, MD is a graduate of Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM). Dr. Congeni did his medical residency and sports medicine fellowship at Akron Children’s Hospital. He has been medical director of the Sports Medicine Center since 1988 and is an assistant professor of pediatrics at NEOUCOM.
Shelley Costa
SHELLEY COSTA is a 2004 Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story, and 2014 Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel (You Cannoli Die Once, Simon and Schuster). She is the author of Basil Instinct (Simon and Schuster, 2014), Practical Sins for Cold Climates (Henery Press, 2016) and A Killer’s Guide to Good Works (Henery Press, 2016). Shelley’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Blood on Their Hands, and The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories. She teaches fiction writing at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Visit her at http://www.shelleycosta.com.
Bill Cotter
Bill was cooked slowly and evenly in the warm embrace of midwest suburbia. After studying art in Baltimore, he then moved to New York City where he found work as a pre-K art and music teacher. In between fingerpainting and singing songs he wrote and illustrated is debut book “Don’t Push the Button!” which has gone on to be a USA Today bestseller. Bill has since moved back to his hometown of Cleveland and spends his days drawing, playing music, and daydreaming.
Alan Cupp
Alan Cupp loves to create and entertain, whether it’s with a captivating mystery novel or a funny promotional video for his church, he’s always anticipating his next creative endeavor. In addition to writing fiction, Alan enjoys acting, music, travel, and playing sports. His life’s motto is, “It’s better to wear out than rust out.” Alan places a high value on time spent with his beautiful wife and their two sons. He lives his life according to his 4F philosophy: Faith, Family, Friends, and Fun.
Mark Dawidziak
Mark Dawidziak is the author or editor of 25 books, including three studies of landmark television series: “The Columbo Phile: A Casebook,” “The Night Stalker Companion” and “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the The Twilight Zone,” his lighthearted 2017 tribute to Rod Serling’s classic anthology series. He also is an internationally recognized Mark Twain scholar, and five of his books are about the iconic American writer. He has been portraying Twain on stage for more than 45 years. No less an authority than Ken Burns has said, “Nobody gets Mark Twain the way Mark Dawidziak does.” His most recent book is the Edgar, Agatha and Anthony-nominated biography “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.” Born in New York, Dawidziak spent 43 years as a television, film and theater critic at such newspapers as the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 2015, he was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He also is the author of the 1994 horror novel “Grave Secrets,” as well as such non-fiction books as “The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible,” “The Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Dracula” and “The Shawshank Redemption Revealed: How One Story Keeps Hope Alive,” a 2019 deep-dive look at the beloved film based on a novella by Stephen King. He also is the editor of three volumes of works by celebrated “Twilight Zone” contributor Richard Matheson, who mentioned Dawidziak in the dedications to two of his books.
His work on the spooky side of the street also includes short stories, novellas, and comic book scripts. Dawidziak and Paul J. Bauer are the authors of the first full-length biography of “hobo author” Jim Tully, a forgotten writer hailed as “America’s Gorky” and as a literary superstar in the 1920s and ’30s. Titled “Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler,” it was published in hardcover by Kent State University Press in 2011 with a foreword by Ken Burns (recently issued in paperback by Commonwealth Book Company). A former vagabond and boxer, Tully wrote about the American underclass and was credited with founding the hard-boiled school of writing. Bauer and Dawidziak also edited and wrote the introductions for Kent State University Press reprints of four of Tully’s books: “Beggars of Life,” “Circus Parade,” “Shanty Irish” and “The Bruiser.” Two more reprints, “Shadows of Men” and “Blood on the Moon,” were published by Commonwealth Book Company in 2023. In 2002, Dawidziak and his wife, actress Sara Showman, founded the Largely Literary Theater Company, dedicated to promoting literature, literacy and live theater. Their repertoire includes works by Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe. https://www.markdawidziak.com/
Darren Demaree
Darren C. Demaree is the author of twenty-three poetry collections, most recently So Much More (Harbor Editions, November 2024). 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 the managing editor of Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system. https://darrencdemaree.com/
Jane Dippold
A lifelong Ohioan, Jane Dippold is the illustrator of the 2015-16 Choose to Read Ohio picture book choice Farmers Market Day, a story about an enthusiastic (and slightly clumsy) little girl searching for the perfect treat at the market. The watercolor and pencil illustrations for Farmerʼs Market Day set in a colorful, crowded farmers market, were inspired by many visits to historic Findlay Market in Cincinnati where she lived for over 15 years.
From a young age, Jane loved art. Illustrations she saw in Cricket Magazine and the Childcraft series of books in her childhood home, as well as cartoons and newspaper comic strips sparked her interest. Graduating from Miami University with a Fine Arts degree, she worked as an artist for a greeting card company. For the past 20 years, Jane has been illustrating for children’s books, children’s magazines and children’s educational publishing. Living with her husband and three children in Coldwater, Ohio, Jane is currently working on a few children’s stories of her own. In addition, she creates fine art collage paintings of the beautiful farm landscapes that surround her in rural Mercer County. More art and information can be found at her website: janedippold.com