Festival is a state library highlight

     (AAPNW-OH) – What more can readers of all ages and interests ask? – It’s open to all, free and no registration required – and all one has to do is just come to the fifth annual Ohioana Book Festival on Saturday, May 7, which will be in the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center at 546 Jack Gibbs Blvd in Columbus. “The Ohioana Book Festival will be a wonderful experience for individuals,” said Linda R. Hengst, Ohioana’s Executive Director, “and a great day for a family to celebrate as part of this Mother’s Day weekend.”

     Doors open at 10:00 am with activities to include the festival’s ten featured authors, who will not only participate in before outreach programming events in schools and other community venues, but also during the festival a host of other programs like, author readings and discussions, a book fair, entertainment, and a special area for children’s programming, all happening throughout the day until 4:30 pm.

     “We are so excited that more than one hundred nationally recognized authors – all of them Ohioans by birth or residents with books that have been published in the past year – will participate in our fifth festival,” said Hengst, Ohioana’s Executive Director. “They represent every major literary field and genre – fiction (mystery, romance, fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction), nonfiction (memoirs, history, and essays), poetry, and books for children and young adults.” The authors chosen in their literary field are:

     Montgomery County resident who grew up in Toledo, Carrie Bebris is the author six “Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries,” including “Pride and Prescience,” which employs the beloved characters from Jane Austen’s novels.

     Now living in Florida, Lisa Black says that she spent the happiest five year of her life in a morgue. She is a professional forensic scientist and the author of five crime thrillers: three in the “Theresa MacLean” series, the most recent “Trail of Blood” and two as “Elizabeth Becka” – all set in her hometown of Cleveland.

     Former Troy native and now Granville, Ohio resident Tim Bowers, has illustrated more than 30 popular children’s books, including “First Dog” and “First Dog’s White House Christmas.” His illustrations have also been used on a wide variety of products and his characters are on hundreds of greeting cards. 

     Cincinnatian Andrea Cheng is the author 17 books for children and young adults. Because of her diverse ethnic background and life experiences, her books introduce youngsters other cultures and personal issues. Inspired by her mother, “Marika” was “On the Same Page” title in 2003 and her most recent book, “Only One Year” is the story of a Chinese family.

     Robert Greer of Columbus is the author of the “CJ Floyd” mystery series, two medical thrillers, a literary fiction novel, ”Spoon,” and hundreds of articles for medical journals. Dr. Greer is the founder and current editor of the High Plains Literary Review and also a professor of pathology, medicine, surgery, and dentistry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

     Ted Gup used his investigative journalist experience in writing his most recent book, “A Secret Gift: How One Man’s Kindness – And a Trove of Letter – Revealed the Hidden Story of the Great Depression,” which tells the story of his grandfather and the people of his hometown, Canton during the 1930s.  He was a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist for the Washington Post and Time magazine and is a frequent contributor to various other publications, including the Smithsonian, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.  He is currently the Chair of the Journalism Department at Emerson College. 

     Westerville’s J. Patrick Lewis has authored more than 40 books for young people who love his poems, riddles, and stories. His more recent children’s book, “First Dog” and “First Dog’s Christmas,” who he co-authored with his daughter Beth Zappitello. “Gulls Hold Up the Sky: Poems 1983–2010” is Lewis’s first poetry book for adults.

     From Athens, Sandy Plunkett is a self-taught illustrator and comic book artist, who began his career age 18 with Marvel Comics. His work also appeared on countless posters, album covers and political cartoons. His book, “The World of a Wayward Comic Book Artist: The Private Sketchbooks of S. Plunkett” features nearly 400 selections from sketchbooks he kept over the past 20 years and gives a fascinating look at his creative process.

     She is a chef, traveling culinary instructor, the director of the Mustard Seed Market and Café Cooking Schools in Akron and Solon, as well as, Bev Shaffer has authored four very popular cookbooks. Her most recent book is “Cakes to Die For,” Bev is also the author of the popular weekly, “Ask Bev” column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and she has been the recipient of many awards and commendations.

     Columbus native Maggie Smith is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan and Ohio State University, has authored three volumes of poetry, “Lamp of the Body”, “The List of Dangers” and “Nesting Dolls.”  Her work has appeared numerous journals, including the Paris Review, Gettysburg Review and Prairie Schooner. In addition, Smith was the recipient of a 2011 Literary Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

     For more information about the festival and the day’s program, it can be found at www.OhioanaBookFestival.org.