Layla Fallah-Cyphert

Layla Fallah (she/they) is a Kurdish-Canadian author, artist, and agent-in-progress. Armed with a degree in clinical and educational psychology from Simon Fraser University, Layla’s love for supporting childhood development is only rivaled by their passion for championing underrepresented voices in children’s literature. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, they left the rainy skies in search of something more, and currently dream up new stories in the Valley of the Sun, Arizona. When they’re not reading or editing manuscripts, you can find Layla painting Kurdistan, planting seeds, or collecting picture books from the local public library. Layla is the 2024 Editorial & Marketing Intern at Lee & Low Books, a recipient of the 2024 Children’s Internship Grant + 2023 Walter Dean Myers Grant from We Need Diverse Books, and winner of the Trans/Nonbinary Scholarship for PB Storytellers from the Highlights Foundation. As a 2022 BookEnds Publishing Fellow, and an inaugural mentee of the 2022 PB Rising Stars Mentorship, Layla is wholeheartedly committed to building ladders, ramps, and bigger tables (metaphorically) to make publishing more accessible to diverse creators. As of 2024, Layla is a co-director of the PB Rising Stars Mentorship Program, an active member of AALA (Association of American Literary Agents), and assistant to Emily Forney & James McGowan at BookEnds Literary Agency.