Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (also referred to as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month) provides Ohioans with a chance to either revisit or to learn about all the exciting literary figures that were either born in Ohio or have called the Buckeye State home. And, as always, …
Read More Celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in Ohio
To view a recording of our conversation, click here to visit our Facebook page! On the eve of the 51st commemoration of the Kent State shootings, the Ohio Center for the Book had the honor of holding a conversation with Derf Backderf about his meticulously researched Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. In a starred …
Read More Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio – A Conversation with Derf BackderfBorn: May 4, 1952Died: November 8, 2008 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland A Philadelphia native, Sheila Miriam Schwartz was born to Philip and Ruth (Motiloff) Schwartz. She graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in English in 1974 and earned her M.A. in creative writing from the State University of New York, Binghamton in 1981. Schwartz …
Read More Sheila Schwartz
We were very fortunate this year to be able to celebrate National Poetry Month with two major events: one with the emerging poets of the ID13 Prison Literacy Project and one with three established, award-winning poets in collaboration with the Ohioana Book Festival! We Are Human. We Write: Poetry Readings Featuring ID13 Prison Literacy Project …
Read More National Poetry Month Round-upBorn: April 26, 1941Died: June 16, 2020 Ohio connection: Birth Toledo Robert James Flanagan was born in Toledo in 1941. His father, Robert John Flanagan, was a disabled World War I veteran and his mother was Minnie Jane (nee Treloar) Flanagan. Growing up in Toledo, Flanagan thought he would become a policeman like his grandfather …
Read More Robert James FlanaganBorn: April 5, 1935Died: August 22, 2018 Ohio connection: Birth Stark County H. M. Hoover, the pen name of author Helen Mary Hoover, was born in 1935 in Stark County, Ohio. The daughter of Edward Lehr and Sadie (Schandel) Hoover graduated from Louisville High School in 1952 and attended Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. …
Read More H. M. (Helen Mary) Hoover
April 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Month! The annual observance was inaugurated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets and continues as a yearly celebration of poetry and poets! Check out their site for posters, logos, and ideas on how to enjoy poetry this month and all the year round. They …
Read More Celebrate National Poetry Month!Born: October 15, 1917 Died: February 28, 2007 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger in Columbus, Ohio, as the oldest son of prominent historian Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Sr. and noted feminist Elizabeth Bancroft Schlesinger, he changed his name to Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr. when he was a teen. Schlesinger graduated from Philips Exeter …
Read More Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Born: March 29, 1819Died: March 26, 1900 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati American Reform rabbi, author, and editor, Isaac Mayer Wise was born in Steingrub, Bohemia (now Lomnička, Czech Republic) in 1819, the son of Leo Weiss, a school teacher, and Regina Weiss. He was a prominent and influential rabbi in 19th-century America. A brilliant student, …
Read More Isaac Mayer WiseBorn: April 6, 1945Died: April 13, 2020 Ohio connection: Birth Toledo Karen S. Harper was born in Toledo, the daughter of Robert A. (an engineer and draftsman) and Margaret (a teacher) Kurtz. Harper was raised in Toledo and graduated from DeVilbiss High School in 1963. After graduating from Ohio University in 1967, Harper was awarded …
Read More Karen Harper