Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie
Photo by Dominique Sindayiganza
Ezra Jack Keats Honor winner Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is an interdisciplinary artist with a doctorate in theater arts and performance studies from Brown University. In addition to her award-winning picture book Layla’s Happiness, she has authored several collections of poetry and has performed poetry and taught in the United States, Namibia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England. Born and raised in Queens, New York, she now resides in Rhode Island and is the mother of three galaxies who look like daughters.