Ohio’s rich literary heritage stretches back well over 150 years. Many Ohio authors have been lauded nationally and internationally and recognized with honors such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award. It can be difficult to know where to start if one wants to explore the depth and breadth of Ohio’s contribution …
Read More Read Around OhioOHIO CONNECTION: Resident Cleveland Born on April 26, 1834, humorist Charles Farrar Browne (aka “Artemus Ward”) grew up in Waterford Flat, Oxford County, Maine. His mother, Caroline Eliza Farrar Brown, was a freethinker descended from the first Puritan settlers of North America in Plymouth, Massachusetts. His father, Levi, was a liberal-minded Congregationalist whose grandfather, Jabez …
Read More Charles Farrar Browne (aka “Artemus Ward”)Born: February 19, 1902Died: December 27, 1992 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Kay Boyle was a writer, educator, and political activist. She was twice awarded Guggenheim fellowships and won the O. Henry Award for best short story of the year (“The White Horses of Vienna”) in 1935 and again (“Defeat”) in 1941. Boyle held a number …
Read More Kay BoyleBorn: 1951 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Karen Ackerman was born in 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio, she graduated from Woodward High School in 1969. Although she was never inspired to be an author while growing up, Ackerman knew she had stories to tell, or to write. Her books focus on families and the benefits of intergenerational …
Read More Karen AckermanBorn: July 22, 1900 Died: April 25, 1994 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati John R. Adams was born July 22, 1900, in Cincinnati, son of Thomas (an engraver) and Margaret (Morse) Adams. Adams graduated from high school at age 15. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1920 and 1922 respectively. While attending …
Read More John R. AdamsBorn: 1949 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Louise Walker Borden was born in 1949 to William Lee and Louise (Crutcher) Walker. Inspired by a grandmother who loved history, Borden grew up fascinated by the stories of ordinary people and their relation to historical events. An avid reader of nonfiction and historical fiction, Borden majored in history at …
Read More Borden, LouiseBorn: May 28, 1929Died: November 15, 2015 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Stephen Birmingham was born in 1929 in Andover, Connecticut, son of Thomas and Editha (née Gardner) Birmingham. He received a B.A. degree from Williams College in 1953 and also studied for a time in England. He married Janet Tillson in 1953 with whom he had three …
Read More Stephen BirminghamBorn: July 20, 1924Died: July 13, 2014 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Thomas Louis Berger was born on July 20, 1924, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The son of Thomas Charles Berger and Mildred (née Bubbe) Berger received a B.A. degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1948. He then pursued graduate study at Columbia University, but left to …
Read More Thomas BergerBorn: December 29, 1941Died: August 5, 2014 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Born on December 29, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Joe David Bellamy was the son of Orin Ross and Beulah Pearl (Zutavern) Bellamy. He attended Duke University (1959-1961), received a BA in Literature from Antioch College in 1964, and received an MFA in English and Creative Writing from the University …
Read More Joe David BellamyBorn: June 21, 1850Died: June 11, 1941 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Daniel Carter Beard, author, illustrator, and a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1850. Beard, the son of celebrated portrait artist James Henry Beard and Mary Caroline (Carter) Beard, developed an intense love of nature in his youth. He …
Read More Daniel Carter Beard