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
Carole Gerber
Carole Gerber is a poet and children’s book author living in Powell, Ohio. She has written nearly two dozen picture books, early readers, and chapter books.
Gerber has worked as a high school and middle school English teacher, an adjunct professor of journalism at Ohio State, a marketing director, editor of a company magazine, a member of creative teams at an ad agency and a hospital, a contributing editor to a computer magazine, and – finally! – as a freelance writer of hundreds of elementary textbooks, magazine articles, speeches, annual reports, and patient education materials.
Besides being a “Jill” of many trades – or more precisely – one trade, writing, with many incarnations, Gerber is married to Mark, the mother of two grown daughters, Jess and Paige, and “Mimi” to Sara and Tyler, Paige’s children. In addition, she sponsors half a dozen children at a time through World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children of all faiths in more than 100 developing countries. Gerber keeps their photos posted to remind her of her blessings and responsibilities.
In her free time, she volunteers as a tour guide for children at a local nature preserve and farm. Gerber also enjoys gardening, though her enthusiasm dwindles as summer progresses, and reading, mostly for her own pleasure and edification. Gerber belongs to a neighborhood book discussion group, enjoys traveling to learn about other countries and cultures, and practices yoga which, like writing, is humbling and challenging. For more information, visit http://carolegerber.com/
Robin Gianna
After completing a degree in journalism from Ohio State University, working in the advertising industry, then becoming a stay-at-home mom for a few years, Robin Gianna had what she likes to call her midlife awakening. She decided she wanted to write the romance novels she’d loved since her teens, and embarked on that quest.
Robin loves pushing her characters to grow until they’re finally ready for their well-deserved happily-ever-afters! When she’s not writing, Robin’s life is filled with a cheerfully messy kitchen, a needy garden, a grand piano she doesn’t practice enough, her own doctor hero husband, three great kids, a drooling bulldog, and one grouchy Siamese cat.
David Gold
David Gold retired a few years ago from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, where he worked as an attorney. He holds a PhD in history from The Ohio State University and is the author or editor of ten books and numerous articles in law and history journals. His works include two volumes on his native Sullivan County, New York; three judicial biographies; a collection of Civil War letters; and a history of the Ohio General Assembly. His latest book is Slavery and Scandal: The Ohio Gubernatorial Debates of 1859.
Linda Gondosch
A former language arts teacher and Northern Kentucky University instructor, Linda Gondosch has written numerous books for children, including picture books, early chapter books, middle grade fiction and nonfiction published by Lerner Publishing Group, Random House, and others. Who Needs a Bratty Brother? won the Kentucky Bluegrass Award. Also, How Did Tea and Taxes Spark a Revolution? was named an Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International. Gondosch earned a BS in Education from Ohio University and a Master of Education from Northern Kentucky University. She has spoken at over 200 schools and libraries about books and the writing process.
Many of Gondosch’s books were inspired by her own childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as by the adventures of her four children who were raised in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Today Gondosch lives with her husband in Hebron, KY, near Cincinnati. They enjoy traveling throughout the U.S. and Europe, visiting historic sites. After seeing the Mission of San Francisco, Gondosch was inspired to write her book, Junípero Serra: Founder of the California Missions.
Kelley Grant
Kelley Grant grew up in the hills around Sugarcreek, Ohio. She graduated from Otterbein College with a B.A. in English and college honors. She and her husband now live near Columbus, Ohio on a wooded hilltop with five cats and a dog. She has published the Desert Rising epic fantasy trilogy with Harper Voyager Publishers. Besides writing, Kelley teaches yoga and meditation, sings kirtan with her husband, and designs brochures and media.
Jeff Gundy
Jeff Gundy, long-time professor of English at Bluffton University, has published many books of poems and prose, including Abandoned Homeland, Somewhere Near Defiance, Songs from an Empty Cage: Poetry, Mystery, Anabaptism, and Peace, and Spoken Among the Trees. His earlier Bottom Dog books include Rhapsody with Dark Matter and Inquiries. A 2008 Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Salzburg, he taught at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania in spring 2015. He plays 6- and 12-string guitar, and puts in as many miles as possible on his road bike and, with his wife Marlyce, on their Cannondale tandem.
His poems and essays have appeared in Georgia Review, The Sun, Image, Kenyon Review, Christian Century, Mennonite Quarterly Review, Conrad Grebel Review, Nimrod, and many other magazines. Other honors and awards include multiple Ohio Arts Council fellowships, two C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureships, Bechtel and Yoder Lectureships, a Nancy Dasher Award, a Society of Midland Authors Poetry Award, and the 2015 Simons Lectures at Bethel (KS) College. He was named the Ohio Poet of the Year by the Ohio Poetry Day Society for Somewhere Near Defiance.
Ann Hagedorn
Ann Hagedorn has written for the Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News and is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including the Ohioana Award-winning Beyond the River and Savage Peace, Her latest book is The Invisible Soldiers: How America Outsourced Our Security.…
Read MoreAnn Hagedorn has written for the Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News and is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including the Ohioana Award-winning Beyond the River and Savage Peace, Her latest book is The Invisible Soldiers: How America Outsourced Our Security. (Photo by Jeanie Wulfkuhle)
Karen Harper
A lifelong Ohioan, Harper taught English before writing full time. She is a NYTimes bestselling author who has won the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She writes both historical novels and contemporary suspense. Karen and her husband make their home in Columbus but love to travel. Her author collection is housed in Rare Books and Manuscripts at The Ohio State University.
Sherri Hayes
Sherri spent most of her childhood detesting English class. It was one of her least favorite subjects because she never seemed to fit into the standard mold. She wasn’t good at spelling, or following grammar rules, and outlines made her head spin. For that reason, Sherri never imagined becoming an author. At the age of thirty, all of that changed. After getting frustrated with the direction a television show was taking two of its characters, Sherri decided to try her hand at writing an alternate ending, and give the characters their happily ever after. By the time the story finished, it was one of the top ten read stories on the site, and her readers were encouraging her to write more.
Writing has become a creative outlet that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions, while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create.