Featured Authors of the 2010 Ohioana Book Festival Announced


2010 Featured Authors

Ohioana Book Festival The great line-up includes a Grammy Award nominee (Nikki Giovanni), two Pulitzer Prize nominees (Andrew Hudgins and Ted Rall), a MacArthur Foundation genius grant recipient (Angela Johnson), two National Book Award finalists (Hudgins and Dan Chaon), and a three-time Ohio Associated Press Writer of the Year in prep sports (David Lee Morgan, Jr.).

David Catrow**

A nine-time winner of the Cox Award for editorial cartooning and illustration, David Catrow is also a writer and illustrator of books for children.  A resident of Springfield, Ohio, Catrow is editorial cartoonist for the Springfield (OH) News Sun.   His work is syndicated to more than 900 newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today.  Catrow has twice been honored for Best Illustrated Book of the Year by the New York Times:  in 1995 for She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head! and in 1999 for The Emperor's Old Clothes.

Published in 2009: Dinosaur Hunt (Max Spaniel), and illustrated a number of other titles.

Dan Chaon**

A novelist and O. Henry Award-winning short story writer, Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply named as one of the Ten Best Books of 2009 by Publisher’s Weekly. In 2001, he was a National Book Award finalist for his collection of short stories entitled Among the Missing. In 2006 he was honored by the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Chaon lives in Cleveland Heights and teaches creative writing at Oberlin College. He was a 2009 “Choose to Read Ohio” author for his book, You Remind Me of Me.

Published in 2009: Await Your Reply

Jennifer Chiaverini**

Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of the popular Elm Creek Quilts series of novels that began in 1999 and now includes fourteen books. A Cincinnati native, Chiaverini graduated from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago and taught creative writing at Penn State. She now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Published in 2009: A Quilter's Holiday: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel

Lori Foster**

A popular and prolific author, Foster has produced more than seventy novels since her first book was published in 1996. She writes romantic novels as Lori Foster, and in recent years has also branched out into the genre of urban fantasy under the name L.L. Foster. Her 2008 book Hard to Handle reached #2 on the New York Times best-seller list. Foster lives in West Chester, Ohio.

Published in 2009: Impetuous (Famous Firsts), Yule Be Mine, My Man Michael (SBC Fighters, Book 4), Bodyguard, Scandalous, Double the Heat, Servant: The Kindred

Nikki Giovanni**

An internationally renowned poet, author, activist, and teacher, Nikki Giovanni was also a 2004 Grammy nominee for Best Spoken Word Recording. Born in Tennessee, Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati. In 2009, she was commissioned to write an original poem for President Obama’s inauguration. Giovanni is the author of nearly thirty books of poems and stories for children. She currently lives in Virginia, where she is professor of literature at Virginia Tech College.  

Published in 2009: Bicycles: Love Poems

Andrew Hudgins

The 2010 recipient of the Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio, poet Andrew Hudgins is also a past nominee for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He won the Poets Prize for his narrative poem, After the Lost War. Born in Texas, Hudgins was educated at Huntingdon College and the Universities of Alabama and Kansas. Hudgins has mentored two generations of poets as a teacher at the University of Cincinnati and at The Ohio State University, where he currently serves as Humanities Distinguished Professor in English.

Published in 2009: Shut Up You're Fine: Instructive Poetry for Very, Very Bad Children

Angela Johnson**

An Ohioana Award-winning writer of novels and poems for children, Angela Johnson is also a three-time winner of the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King Award, presented annually for “outstanding inspirational and educational works that promote understanding and appreciation of the cultures of all peoples.” Johnson was born in Alabama and grew up in Windham, Ohio. Now a resident of Kent, Ohio, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2003.

Published in 2009: Sweet, Hereafter

Lisa Klein**

A writer of historical fiction for young adults, Lisa Klein is a native of Peoria, Illinois. She received her B.A. from Marquette and her Ph.D. in literature from Indiana University. Klein was an assistant professor of English at The Ohio State University for eight years, where her special discipline was Shakespeare and Renaissance culture. Klein lives in Columbus.

Published in 2009: Lady Macbeth’s Daughter

Ted Rall**

An award-winning cartoonist, graphic novelist, and essayist, Ted Rall was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Kettering, Ohio. Rall has been a political cartoonist and op-ed columnist for United Press Syndicate since 1996, his work appearing in more than 100 newspapers around the country, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and Village Voice. He currently serves as President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Rall has twice won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and in 1996 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning.

Published in 2009: The Year of Loving Dangerously

David Lee Morgan Jr.**

David Lee Morgan, Jr. has been a sports reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal since 1995. He has won several awards for his coverage of high school sports, including the James A. Sutherland Award, given to the top “rookie” reporter in Northeast Ohio and was named the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Writer of the Year three times (2004, 2007, 2009). He is a former high school and collegiate athlete. He played baseball and basketball at Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio and baseball at Youngstown State University.

Published in 2009: More Than a Coach: What It Means to Play for Coach, Mentor, and Friend Jim Tressel, A Ring For The King: King James, Shaq, and The Quest for an NBA Championship, High School Heroes

** Notes the author has confirmed their appearance at the festival as of 2/12/10

The 2010 Ohioana Book Festival: Celebrating Ohio’s Authors
Saturday, May 8th, 2010

10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Ohioana and the State Library of Ohio
274 E. First Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43201

For more information visit http://ohioanabookfestival.org/