2026 Event Information

Grade Levels: 3rd - 8th

Date:  Friday, November 6, 2026

Location: Greystone Event Center

Time: 9:45 AM - 1:30 PM

Buckeye Book Fair

Event Features:

Author Presentations

Illustrator Workshops

Autograph Sessions

Buckeye Book Fair Preview & Visit

2026 Authors

Lindsay Bonilla

Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and children’s book author. Having performed interactive theatre, shared stories and taught workshops all over the world, Lindsay is passionate about building understanding across cultures while inspiring the imagination. Lindsay is the author of six picture books, including Parents’ Choice Award winner, Polar Bear Island, and The Storyteller (a 2025 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of Outstanding Merit and a 2025 Choose to Read Ohio booklist selection.) She lives with her husband and two wild and creative kids in North Canton, Ohio. When she’s not writing, she’s usually wading through a sea of Lego or picking up stuffed animals from her living room floor as she brainstorms her next book idea.   -more-

Allison Rozo

Allison Rozo is a picture book author and artist. She was raised in Orrville, OH, before moving to Chicago. After 16 years she and her family moved back to Ohio to be near family. She and her Colombian native husband, Rafael Rozo, write bilingual stories in English and Spanish for their children to weave together their two cultures. She also writes stories in English.   -more- 

Jerzy Drozd

Jerzy Drozd is an Ohio Teaching Artist and the author of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, published by Iron Circus Comics. He co-authored Science Comics: Rockets, published by First Second Books with Anne Drozd. They live in Columbus, Ohio with their four cats.   -more-

Will Hillenbrand

Will Hillenbrand   I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where my family owned a barbershop. As a kid, I often walked to the shop in the summer and delivered my Dad’s hot lunch. Then, I would take a break and listen to the conversations. Many customers told “big fish” stories laced with humor and exaggeration. I enjoyed drawing those stories at the kitchen table when I returned home. Later, I went to art school, and after taking a class in picture book art, I decided to try illustrating children’s literature. After over 80 books, I still feel lucky to do what I love. I live with my wife, Jane, and son, Ian, in Terrace Park, Ohio.   -more-n Slangerup

Jerzy

About YAC

The Young Authors Conference is a partnership with all schools in Wayne, Holmes, and Ashland counties through Buckeye Book Fair’s established partnership with Tri-County Educational Service Center, the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, and Ohio Arts Council. With over 400 students participating, the Young Authors Conference teaches students in grades 3-8 about the ins and outs of the writing and storytelling process. Students attend a one-day session where they work intensively with a teaching artist expert in writing, illustration, and publishing.

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