Aaron Arm is a writer and editor living in Central New York. He has worked as an English teacher, technical writer, copywriter, and communications specialist.

Jamaica Baldwin is a poet and teaches writing at Ithaca College. She has also served as a community-based teaching artist and taught a generative writing workshop for women in Guatemala.

nicole v basta is a poet with proud roots in the coal mines and garment factories of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her poetry, art practices, and teaching practice are rooted in wild making, not academics, and are connected to the traditional sense of resourcefulness of her ancestors.

Kalynn Bayron is a New York Times and Indie bestselling author whose most recent book for young adults is Sleep Like Death. She is also a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she's not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her family. 

Robin Bernstein is the Dillon Professor of American History and professor of African and African American studies and studies of women, gender, and sexuality at Harvard University. She is the author of Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights, as well as Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's First Prison for Profit.

Michael Gray Bulla is a recent graduate of Wells College. He was named the 2017 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate with Southern Word and is the author of the poetry collection Letters to the Home. Gray's first book is If I Can Give You That, and his second is The Ghost of You. Originally from Nashville, Bulla currently resides in Ithaca, New York with his partner and their cats, Hermes and Hera.

Danny Caine is the author of four poetry collections , as well as the books How to Resist Amazon and Why and How to Resist Amazon and Why. He is a co-owner of the Raven Bookstore.

Robert Cantelmo is the 46th mayor of the City of Ithaca.

Antonia Carcelén-Estrada is an activist, translator, and scholar of comparative literature, cultural race studies, oral history, and early-modern and medieval studies.

Amanda Jaros Champion is the author of 100 Things to Do in Ithaca Before You Die. She lives in Ithaca, NY, with her husband and son where she serves her community as a County Legislator.

Coraline Chardonnay is a co-founder of Ithaca Drag Story Hour and works as a middle school language teacher by day.

Melanie Conroy-Goldman is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Hobart and William Smith Colleges where she was a founding director of the Trias Residency for Writers. She is the author of The Likely World.

The fabulous Tilia Cordata is a gal lost in time. Mixing modern sensibilities and activism with the bygone looks of yesteryear, from bars to brunches, libraries to lecture halls, she is sure to charm your grandparents while offending your conservative family. Current head producer and host of Thursgays Ithaca, Director of Drag me to School at Cornell, Host of Kids brunch at Khouse, and Co-organizer of Ithaca Drag Story hour, and a list of other titles and accolades longer than a 40 inch wig, she's hard to miss!" 

Rachel Crawford is the founder of Akimbo Books and the new nonprofit Unabridged Literary Arts in Rochester, NY. She also teaches Creative Writing at Attica, a maximum security prison, through the Rochester Education Justice Initiative.

Leslie Daniels is a writer, editor, teacher, and literary agency veteran and the author of the novel Cleaning Nabokov's House.

Yvonne Wakim Dennis (Cherokee/Sand Hill/Syrian) is an educator, social worker and award-winning author of non-fiction books for children and adults.

Susie Dumond is a queer writer originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, now living in Washington D.C. She is a senior contributor at Book Riot and a bookseller at Loyalty Bookstores.

Jim Feast is the author of several collections of poetry and a founding member of the Unbearables, an action-oriented literary group based in New York City.

Lesley Greene is a sound designer, composer, video editor, playwright, and director. She is co-director of Story House Ithaca and co-founder of Porchfest, a street festival that now takes place in more than 200 neighborhoods around North America.

Eleanor Henderson is the author of two novels (The Twelve Mile Straight and Ten Thousand Saints, which was named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times) and a memoir, Everything I Have is Yours. She is a beloved professor of writing at Ithaca College.

Chris Holmes is associate professor and chair of Literatures in English at Ithaca College, host of the podcast Burned by Books, and co-director of the New Voices Festival.

Jeff Iovannone is a social and architectural historian who specializes in conserving LGBTQ history through the built environment.

John Jacobson is an editor passionate about literature and the power it holds to liberate people’s hearts and minds. As the Associate Editor for Afterglow books, an imprint of Harlequin and HarperCollins, they channel that passion into the acquisition and publication of romance novels, with a personal focus on uplifting marginalized voices and experiences in the genre. They are also privileged to be a member of the Buffalo Street Books board.

Karen Jaime is an associate professor of Performing and Media Arts and Latina/o Studies at Cornell. Her interests include Latina/o/x studies, performance studies, queer studies, and feminist, gender, & sexuality studies.

Timothy Janovsky is a queer, multidisciplinary storyteller based in DC. He is the author of Never Been Kissed (Bookstlist starred review), You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince (AudioFile Earphones Award), and New Adult.

Jennifer Savran Kelly is a writer, book binder, and production editor at Cornell University Press. Her debut novel, Endpapers,is a genderqueer mystery. Photo by Darcy Rose.

Margaret Killjoy is an author, musician, and podcast host. She is best known for her speculative fiction in the steampunk and folk horror genres.

Alexandra Kleeman is an associate professor at Cornell and a contributing writer at the NY Times Magazine. Her 2021 novel Something New Under the Sun was a Times Notable Book.

Jonatham Lethem is a graduate of Bennington College and author of seven novels, including Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn.

Sasha Lilley is a writer, radio broadcaster, and co-founder and host of the critically acclaimed program of radical ideas, Against the Grain.

Dr. Nia serves as an Associate Professor of education and psychology at Ithaca College and Board of Directors President of Southside Community Center. She’s a mother, artist, activist, and consultant within her community and across the country.

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is the author of several children’s and YA books. She lives with her family in New York City where she writes, makes things, and needs to get more sleep.

Dan Rosenberg is currently a Senior Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University. He lives in Ithaca, NY, with his wife, essayist and poet Alicia Rebecca Myers, and their son, Miles. 

AJ Sage is a theater writer, director, actor, producer, and stage manager. He is artistic director for House of Ithaqua, which produces theater in the horror and science fiction genres.

Steven Salvatore is an author, gay chaos agent, and founder of Queerative Writers, a full-service creative hub for LGBTQ+ aspiring writers.

Elizabeth Sandifer is an Ithaca-based writer best known for Neoreaction a Basilisk, a polemic about neo-nazis and the end of the world. She has also written about lighter topics such as Doctor Who, British comic books, and They Might Be Giants. 

John Simon & Cal Walker bring books to life through the Sing Me a Story! Tell Me a Song! project of Children's Reading Connection.

Hillary is the owner of Black Walnut Books, a queer and Native owned bookstore that focuses on Indigenous, BIPOC and queer authors in Glens Falls, New York. She is Southern Pomo and Coastal Miwok and a member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. She has worked in bookstores since 2009 and loves how books forge connections. . In March of 2024 she opened a children’s bookstore, Little Black Walnut Books. 

Lisa Swayze is the founder of the Ithaca is Books Festival and general manager of Buffalo Street Books. She serves on the board of the American Booksellers Association. Trying to save indie bookstores keeps her awake at night.

Meredith Talusan is an artist, author, and journalist whose debut memoir, Fairest, was a 2020 Lambda Literary Award finalist and named a best book of the year by multiple venues.

Katie Tastrom is a disability justice activist and writer who has worked as a lawyer, social worker, and sex worker.

Debbie Urbanski is a writer, nature lover, and human. After World is her first novel.

Gladira Velázquez Cruz was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in Rockville, MD, and has lived in Ithaca since 2015. She was published in the Anthology 2020: The Year That Changed America. She serves as the Assistant Director of Human Resources at Ithaca City School District. Gladira shares part of her heart with three children and her soulmate.

Jack Wang is the author of the story collection We Two Alone and the forthcoming novel The Riveter. He is a professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College and lives with his wife and two daughters in Ithaca, NY.

Jaime Warburton writes poems, stories, essays, and creative nonfiction. She is also a dancer, singer, actor, musician, and assistant professor of writing at Ithaca College.

Kenneth Wishnia is a Suffolk Community College professor who teaches writing, literature, and other deviant forms of thought.

Kevin A. Young is an associate professor of history at UMASS Amherst seeking to understand the world in order to change it – or more precisely, to support the social movements that will change it.

Akimbo Books is Rochester's Indie Bookstore Specializing in Small Press and Social Justice titles.

At Autumn Leaves, we believe that there is nothing more important than the freedom of knowledge. That's why we're proud to have a diverse selection of new and used books, from fiction and poetry, to philosophy and politics, to cookbooks and music history. We are especially proud of our large selection of Buddhist literature—one of the largest in the state—and anarchist literature, much of which is published by PM Press, the owners of Autumn Leaves.

Beacon Press is an independent publisher of serious non-fiction. Our books often change the way readers think about fundamental issues; they promote such values as freedom of speech and thought; diversity, religious pluralism, and anti-racism; and respect for diversity in all areas of life.

Black Walnut Books in Glens Falls, NY focuses on empowering, sharing and amplifying Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and queer communities, voices and authors.

Buffalo Street Books is Ithaca's community-owned independent bookstore, working to reimagine the ways an independent bookstore can serve its community.

Burning Books is a radical bookstore in Buffalo, NY. Their curation matches their mission of social justice and sustainability.

Cornell University Press, established in 1869, is the first American university press. Cornell University Press fosters a culture of broad and sustained inquiry through the publication of scholarship that is engaged, influential, and of lasting significance.

Haymarket Books is a radical, independent, nonprofit book publisher based in Chicago.

Ink Alchemy Books is an independent publisher based in Ithaca, NY. We are committed to giving new writers a platform to begin their publishing journey.

The New Press amplifies progressive voices for a more inclusive, just, and equitable world. As a nonprofit public-interest publisher, we leverage books, diverse voices, and media engagement to facilitate social change, enrich public discourse, and defend democratic values

Odyssey Bookstore, named in honor of Ithaca and the original connections to The Odyssey, is a local bookstore celebrating what is special and unique about our town.

PM Press is an independent, radical publisher of critically necessary books for our tumultuous times. Our aim is to deliver bold political ideas and vital stories to all walks of life and arm the dreamers to demand the impossible.

Riot Act is a volunteer-run book shop out of Binghamton, NY, working to provide our community with relevant and affordable reading material that educates, agitates, and inspires positive change.

Saddle Road Press is a small literary press located near Ithaca, New York. We publish full-length poetry collections, poetry chapbooks, literary fiction, essays, memoir, and hybrid forms, in both print and eBook editions.

Verso Books is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.

Meet authors, buy their books, get them signed.