Layla Fallah-Cyphert

Literary Assistant
(they/them/she/her)

Layla Fallah-Cyphert is the literary assistant to Emily Forney. 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 2023 recipient of the Trans/Nonbinary Scholarship for Picture Book Storytellers from Highlights Foundation, as well as the Walter Dean Meyers Grant from We Need Diverse Books. As an inaugural student of the PB Rising Stars mentorship, and a past BookEnds Publishing Fellow, Layla is wholeheartedly committed to building ladders, ramps, and bigger tables (metaphorically) to make publishing more accessible to traditionally marginalized groups.