Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, PhD is an interdisciplinary artist, poet, and scholar. Tallie is author of We Go Slow (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) which was named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and chosen as a NYPL Best Book of 2025. Her first children’s book Layla’s Happiness (Enchanted Lion Books) won an Ezra Jack Keats Honor for writing.