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
Judith Moffett
Judith Moffett was born in Louisville in 1942 and grew up in Cincinnati. She is an English professor, a poet, a Swedish translator, and the author of twelve books in six genres. These include three volumes of poetry, two of Swedish poetry in formal translation, four science-fiction novels plus a collection of stories, a volume of creative nonfiction, and a critical study of James Merrill’s poetry. She has also written an unpublished memoir of her long friendship with Merrill. Her work in poetry, translation, and science fiction has earned numerous awards and award nominations, including an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry, an NEH Translation Grant, the Swedish Academy’s Tolkningspris, and in science fiction the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the Theodore Sturgeon Award for the year’s best short story. Two of her novels were New York Times Notable Books.
Moffett earned a doctorate in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, with a thesis on Stephen Vincent Benét’s narrative poetry, directed by Daniel Hoffman. She taught American literature and creative writing at several colleges and universities, including the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the University of Kentucky, and for fifteen years the University of Pennsylvania. She has lived for extended periods in England (Cambridge and London) and Sweden (Lund and Stockholm), as well as around the US, living/teaching/writing in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Utah. In 1983 she married Medievalist Edward B. Irving, Jr., her colleague at Penn. Widowed in 1998, Judy now divides her year between Oxford OH and her hundred-acre recovering farm near Lawrenceburg KY, sharing both homes with her standard poodles, Corbie and Lexi.
For a complete list of Judy’s published work, visit her Wikipedia entry: wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Moffett
Doug Motz
Doug Motz is the Past President of the Columbus Historical Society and continues to give tours of the core city for CHS. He is the co-author Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus. He writes a “History Lesson” column for the website columbusunderground.com and gives a monthly local history quiz on the local ABC affiliate WSYX’ morning television program, Good Day Columbus. When not researching Columbus History, he spends his time singing with the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus which he serves as Vice-President.
Dara Naraghi
Dara Naraghi was born in Iran and educated in the United States. His graphic novel trilogy Persia Blues has been praised by Publishers Weekly and the Midwest Book Review, has been nominated for awards by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and won a S.P.A.C.E. Prize for best graphic novel. His other notable graphic novels include the Terminator Salvation official movie prequel, and Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland (both New York Times Bestsellers), as well as works for Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Dark Horse, and DC Comics. Dara is also a founding member of the comic book writers/artists collective known as PANEL, with whom he has produced 20 volumes of their comics anthology. Dara lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, daughter, and the world’s sweetest hound dog. Visit him online at http://www.daranaraghi.com/
Paul Orshoski
Paul Orshoski, children’s author and poet, is a former school teacher, coach and principal from Sandusky, Ohio. He writes witty, humorous, rhyming children’s books and poems. Paul is the author of thirteen children’s books published by Treasure Bay, Inc. of Novato, California. Several of his books are part of Treasure Bay’s “We Read Phonics” series, including “Where is My Frog?”, “Robot Man”, and “Sports Dream”, which were selected as Mom’s Choice Awards Gold Honor winners in 2011. Paul has four books published in the “We Both Read” Treasure Bay series entitled, “My Sitter is a T-Rex!”, “The Mouse in My House”, “The Mouse in My House / Un raton en mi casa”, and “The Ant and The Pancake”. Paul is also the author of several poems that have appeared in poetry anthologies These include: “My Teacher’s in Detention”, “Dinner with Dracula”, “I’ve Been Burping in the Classroom”, “I Hope I Don’t Strike Out”, and “What I Did on my Summer Vacation”. Paul’s poems have also appeared in the following magazines: “Boys’ Quest”, “Fun For Kidz”, “Hopscotch For Girls”, “Scholastic Action”, and “The School Administrator”. Paul enjoys making kids giggle during school visits by enthusiastically performing his poems and books in small or large group settings wherever he is asked to present.
Taylor Overbey
Taylor Overbey was the managing editor of GLAD, the Christian Humor Magazine for three years in the early 1980’s. It was here that his numerous comic stories were published in over 17 issues. After leaving GLAD, he moved to California where he wrote and drew short stories for Blackthorne Comics titles Laffin’ Gas and The Legion of Stupid Heroes, and self-syndicated a weekly comic feature called, Curious Words and Fascinating Phrases, about word and phrase origins. He later wrote, performed puppets, and did animated cartoons for a children’s DVD series, A Street Called Straight.
Taylor wrote and illustrated his first children’s book, The SNIT and George Franklin Whit for his son, Elias, when Elias was in the first grade. But nine years later, with the arrival of his second child, Taylor realized he had to think about how to earn a living for the next two decades. So on the first day back to school, the 54-year-old felt very out of place among the 18-20 year olds, and the teacher who was at least a decade younger than himself. At the completion of his undergraduate program, Taylor was offered an adjunct teaching position, something he had never considered, and became excited at the prospect. While in a graduate level children’s illustration course, he wrote The I-Wants and the Gimmies for his daughter, Sophia.
“My father used to call my sister and me, ‘Grab’ and ‘Snatch’, ” says Overbey, “although I was never sure which was which. It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I saw they don’t like to share, naturally. Everything is ‘Mine!’ That, and my father’s nicknames were the inspiration for The I-Wants and the Gimmies.”
He continued on to complete his Master’s degree and is now pursuing a career as a full professor. He lives in Michigan with his wife, Youla, and two children and intends to continue writing children’s books, freelancing as an illustrator and animator, and painting.
Eliot Parker
Eliot Parker is an award-winning author. His latest collection of short stories, Snapshots was a finalist in short story genre by the American Fiction Awards as well as the Readers Favorite International Book Awards. He is also the author of four novels, most recently A Knife’s Edge, which was an Honorable Mention in Thriller Writing at the London Book Festival, and is the sequel to the award-winning novel Fragile Brilliance.…
Read MoreEliot Parker is an award-winning author. His latest collection of short stories, Snapshots was a finalist in short story genre by the American Fiction Awards as well as the Readers Favorite International Book Awards. He is also the author of four novels, most recently A Knife’s Edge, which was an Honorable Mention in Thriller Writing at the London Book Festival, and is the sequel to the award-winning novel Fragile Brilliance. Fragile Brilliance was a finalist for the Southern Book Prize in Thriller Writing and his third novel, Code for Murder, was named a 2018 Finalist for Genre Fiction by American Book Fest. Eliot is a recipient of the West Virginia Literary Merit Award and he recently received with the Thriller Writing Award by the National Association of Book Editors (NABE) for his novels. In 2019, he received the JUG Award by the West Virginia Writers, Inc. organization for his creative work as well as his role in promoting writers and the literary arts in his home state of West Virginia. Eliot is the host of the podcast program Now, Appalachia, which profiles authors and publishers living and writing in the Appalachian region and is heard on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. The program is the most listened to podcast program on the network. A graduate of the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University with his MFA in Creative Writing and Murray State University with his Doctorate in English, he teaches writing at the University of Mississippi and lives in Oxford, Mississippi and Chesapeake, Ohio.
Wolfgang Parker
Wolfgang Parker is the accidental author and illustrator of the Crime Cats children’s mystery series. He wrote the first volume, Crime Cats: Missing, as a gift for his nineteen nieces and nephews, and soon found people of all ages enjoyed reading the adventures of the Chicken-Boy of Clintonville and his cat detective partners. The series has won nine publishing awards. Parker was the recipient of the 2018 OELMA Literacy Leadership Award and voted one of Columbus’ best authors in the 2015 ColumbusUnderground.com reader’s poll. Too Scary to Read Alone is Parker’s first contribution to children’s horror. The abomination known as Vilnius Oorte has haunted Central Ohio for more than 50 years, though its exact origin is unknown. Too Scary to Read Alone is the first publication to feature the “art” that Oorte has spawned and unleashed. All are advised to approach with extreme caution.
Karen A. Patterson
Award winning author Karen A. Patterson has recently released Recipes from Ohio’s Must Places to Eat, the second book in her Ohio travel series and the companion to Eating Your Way Across Ohio. She has also written Herbs for All Seasons and a World War II memoir entitled Allies Forever: The Life and Times of an American Prisoner of War. As a syndicated columnist for the Gannett and Thompson newspapers, she has penned hundreds of articles on travel, food, and gardening.
Donna Alice Patton
Donna Alice Patton is a gardening enthusiast from the Midwest who has won numerous ribbons and trophies for her flowers and vegetables. In the winter when she can’t play in the dirt, she soothes her creativity by writing instead. She is the author of five books for children including: Saddle Up! Based on a real California horse camp and Snipped in the Bud: A Tale from the Garden of Mysteries. Find out more at: http://www.donnaalicepatton.com.
Nancy Roe Pimm
Nancy Roe Pimm is an award-winning author of many books and articles for children. In addition to Fly, Girl, Fly:Shaesta Waiz Soars Around the World. Pimm is the author of middle-grade biography The Jerrie Mock Story: The First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World. Pimm visits schools and organizations to encourage the next generation to believe in their dreams and to challenge the possibilities. She also teaches writing workshops, virtually and in-person. Pimm lives with her retired race-car driver husband in Plain City, Ohio. Nancy and Ed have three daughters and two grandsons. They share their home with two dogs, one cat, and one snake. To discover more of Pimm’s books, visit her website: http://www.nancyroepimm.com