Ohioana Book Festival to make in-person return with more than 120 authors

Nancy Gilson
·2 min read

More than 120 authors and illustrators will participate this spring in the 17th annual Ohioana Book Festival, the state’s largest gathering of Ohio authors.

The free event, the first in-person festival since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Columbus Metropolitan Main Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.

“Our last in-person book festival was 2019,” said David Weaver, executive director of the Ohioana Library Association that presents the festival. “We never canceled, we just did them online in 2020, 2021 and 2022.”

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Weaver said organizers expect between 4,500 and 5,000 people to attend the festival.

“People really missed the ability to be in personal touch with the authors. At the book fair, people can get a copy of a book and have the author sign it, something they couldn’t do at the virtual festivals.”

The festival will feature panel discussions, author conversations and the book fair, presented by the Book Loft of German Village. Weaver said online programs may be added to the event.

Among the participating authors:

  • Brian Alexander, author of “The Hospital: Life, Death and Dollars in a Small American Town"

  • Tom Batiuk, comic strip creator of “Crankshaft” and the just-concluded “Funky Winkerbean”

  • Dick Celeste, former Ohio governor and author of the memoir “In the Heart of It All”

  • Erin Flanagan, mystery writer and winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for best first novel for “Deer Season"

  • Manuel Iris, Mexican-born American writer and former poet laureate of Cincinnati

  • Kari Gunter-Seymour, poet laureate of Ohio

  • Prince Shakur, the Jamaican-American podcast host, journalist and author of the memoir “When They Tell You to Be Good”

  • Frances Smith Strickland, former Ohio first lady and author of the children’s book “The Little Girl Who Grew Up to Be Governor"

  • Andrea Wang, children’s author who won the Caldecott Medal for her book “Watercress”

“We try to have a mix of favorite authors and exciting new authors,” Weaver said.

For a complete list of authors scheduled to appear and more information about the festival, go to ohioana.org.

negilson@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohioana Book Festival to feature 120 Ohio authors in April