We have 168 local authors in our directory!
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| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
|---|---|---|
Heather Neff | Born in Akron, Ohio, Heather Neff's family moved to Detroit when she was in her teens. After graduating from Cass Technical High School, Heather earned a Bachelor's Degree in English with High Distinction at the University of Michigan. She went on to study French language and culture at the Sorbonne, University of Paris. Heather earned her Lizentiat and doctoral degree in English Language and Literature, Comparative Literature and French Linguistics at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. She then spent two years in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she taught at the University of the Virgin Islands and St. Joseph High School. She joined the faculty in the Department of English at Eastern Michigan University in 1993, retiring as a Distinguished Professor in 2021. The author of eight novels, Heather's books cover topics such as female friendship, lost heritage, love, troubled cultural relationships between Africans and African Americans, addiction and recovery, modern-day human trafficking, and intimate partner violence and its effect on children. Her book Wisdom received a Fiction Honor Book Award from the American Library Association. Heather's poetry from her time in France is collected in The Paris Hours. | |
Aaron P. Dworkin | Best-selling writer and host of the nationally-broadcast Arts Engines show, Aaron P. Dworkin was President Obama's first appointment to the National Council on the Arts. He is a former dean and current Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He is the founder of the Sphinx Organization, with the mission of transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. He has collaborated with a breadth of artists including Yo-Yo Ma and Anna Deveare Smith. He has been featured in several publications and received numerous awards including Newsweek's "15 People Who Make America Great” and BET's History Makers in the Making Award. Aaron is a frequent speaker at several universities and conferences and a member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), in addition to serving on the board of multiple art organizations including the Ann Arbor Foundation. He is an avid kayaker, poker player, and boater, having captained multiple crossings of the Gulfstream. He is married to Afa Sadykhly Dworkin, a prominent international arts leader who serves as President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, and has two awesome sons, Noah Still and Amani Jaise. They reside in Michigan with their two Savannah cats, Mocha and Pekoe, and English Cream Retriever, Rondo. | |
Kimberley Kinder | Kimberley Kinder is an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and the Faculty Director for the Healthy Cities Certificate Program at the University of Michigan. Dr. Kinder has degrees in geography, architecture, urban design, and environmental policy. She received her master's degree from the University of Oxford and her doctorate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the social, cultural, and political aspects of urban landscapes. Kinder is the author of three books. Her most recent book, The Radical Bookstore: Counterspace for Social Movements (University of Minnesota Press, 2021), explores how activists use spatial agency for organizing. Her previous book, DIY Detroit: Making Do in a City without Services (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), explores how residents in Detroit cope with market disinvestment and government contraction by taking charge of abandoned landscapes. Kinder's first book, The Politics of Urban Water: Changing Waterscapes in Amsterdam (University of Georgia Press, 2015), explores how active residents in Amsterdam deploy waterscapes when rallying for political reform. Kinder is currently working on a book about the cultural geography of invisible exile. https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/faculty/directory/kimberley-kinder | |
Sarah Magee | Sarah Magee is an inveterate traveler, unabashed globalist, and firm believer in always eating dessert first. It is never too early for ice cream. She is a master packer of suitcases and lifelong Michigander. I Never Said I Love You is her literary debut. |  |
Tammy Coxen | Tammy Coxen is the founder and Chief Tasting Officer of Tammy's Tastings, where she's been sharing her enthusiasm for food and drink for over 15 years. Since 2011 she has been teaching interactive hands-on cocktail classes to individuals, groups, and companies for events ranging from parties to corporate team building. Starting in 2020 she also took those classes online, exploring the history, stories, and mixing techniques behind some of the world’s most famous cocktails. She is the co-author of the cocktail book Cheers to Michigan, co-host of a regular cocktail segment on Michigan Radio (her local NPR affiliate), and has written for Hour Detroit magazine and other publications. She'll be launching the My Tiny Bottles podcast, where she'll explore her grandmother's legacy of miniature liquor bottles, one tiny bottle at a time. |  |
Stacie Sheldon | Aanii / Boozhoo / Hello! My name is Stacie Sheldon. Chitwaadewegekwe nindizhinikaaz Anishinaabemong. Honor Beat Woman is my name in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe). Ajiijaak n'doodem. I am Crane Clan. I combine my rich work life as a UX practitioner with the passion I have for life as an Ojibwe person and language advocate. I am an author, and co-founder of http://www.ojibwe.net, where I lead technical development. I have served on the Board of Directors for American Indian Services in Lincoln Park, Michigan. Now a resident of Ann Arbor, MI, I grew up in the lakes and hills of Northern Michigan where I spent my summers swimming in our “great lakes” and winters exploring the woods. A lifelong runner, I can also be found on hikes with my dog, Nimkii, or playing guitar, piano, or singing. I’m a bookworm at heart, and I occasionally stay up way too late reading mystery novels--most recently, I’ve been unable to put down the Virgil Flowers series by John Sanford. |  |
Jessica Litman | Professor Jessica Litman, the John F. Nickoll Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, is the author of Digital Copyright and the co-author, with Jane Ginsburg and Mary Lou Kevlin, of the casebook Trademarks and Unfair Competition Law: Cases and Materials. Before rejoining the Michigan faculty in 2006, Litman was a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, a visiting professor at New York University School of Law and at American University Washington College of Law, as well as a professor at Michigan Law from 1984 to 1990. In addition, she has taught copyright law at the University of Tokyo as part of the Law Faculty Exchange Program. Litman is an adviser for the American Law Institute's Restatement of Copyright, a past trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA, a past chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Intellectual Property, and a past member of the Future of Music Coalition's advisory council and the advisory board for Public Knowledge. https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/jessica-litman | |
Cynthia Leitich Smith | Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee citizen) is a NYT bestselling author and was named the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Her novel HEARTS UNBROKEN won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, and her recent books include ANCESTOR APPROVED: INTERTRIBAL STORIES FOR KIDS, an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Reading of the West Book Award for Young Readers as well as SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, which received six starred reviews and made numerous “best of the year” lists. Her debut tween novel RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME was named one of the 30 Most Influential Children’s Books of All Time by Book Riot. Her 2023 release is the YA novel HARVEST HOUSE. Cynthia is the author-curator of Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperChildren’s and was the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program. |  |
Jennifer Waddell | Jennifer Waddell writes devotionals about Christian living. She released her first book in 2018 but she’s been writing since high school. Jennifer is a songwriter and has been involved in music ministry for many years. Her goal of writing is to bring hope and encouragement to the readers. Her books are available at her church, Shekinah Christian church, and also on Amazon. | |
Irene Butter | Irene Butter was born in Berlin and grew up as a Jewish child in Nazi-occupied Europe. A survivor of two concentration camps, she came to the US in 1945. Since the late 80s Irene has been teaching students about the Holocaust and the lessons she learned during those traumatic years. Her memoir, Shores Beyond Shores, details her journey. Irene is a co-founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Medal & Lecture series at the University of Michigan, and one of the founders of Zeitouna, an Arab/Jewish Women's Dialogue group in Ann Arbor. |  |
| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
