Mariahadessa Ekere TallieEzra Jack Keats Honor winner Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is an interdisciplinary artist and PhD candidate at Brown University. In addition to her award-winning picture book Layla’s Happiness, she has authored several collections of poetry and ha performed poetry and taught in the United States, Namibia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England. She was born and raised in Queens, New York, and her journeys across the borough inspired the writing of her picture book We Go Slow. She now resides in Rhode Island and is the mother of three galaxies who look like daughters. Visit her online at EkereTallie.com. Read More Read Less