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Our 2025 Writer Mentees!
LAYLA FALLAH
2025 PICTURE BOOK MENTEE
Layla Fallah is a Kurdish-Canadian author, artist, and advocate for diverse storytellers. A marketing thumb by day and a mentorship director by night, Layla is wholeheartedly devoted to making a meaningful difference in the lives of others through words and art. With each story they tell, Layla hopes to open a doorway for readers who have yet to see themselves reflected in books, and to shine a light on the quiet, everyday magic that surrounds us. When her pen is at rest, you can find Layla painting Kurdistan, planting seeds, or collecting picture books from the public library.
OLIVIA WETHERILL LOPEZ
2025 MIDDLE GRADE BOOK MENTEE
Olivia is an assistant book scout by day, and an aspiring author by night. Her job (and her life) can be summed up in one word: reading. When she’s not reading for work, she’s writing stories about anxious, neurodivergent characters, because they deserve to be heroes, too! As a storyteller, she is drawn to cinematic narratives with imaginative worlds and characters that feel like family. Her work has been selected as part of We Need Diverse Books’ mentorship program (2024), WriteHive’s mentorship program (2025), the Round Table Mentor program (2024), and CBC's Writing YA and Children's Fiction course. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her watching three different shows simultaneously—it’s hard to choose! Olivia is on Instagram @owlsayswho.
LILY BARRETT
2025 YOUNG ADULT BOOK MENTEE
Lily Barrett is a bookseller, novelist, and software engineer based in Boston, MA. Growing up in the 2000s with a cochlear implant, she rarely saw her experience reflected in the books and TV shows she loved. Today, she co-owns Read My Lips Boston, a pop-up bookshop focused on diverse romance stories. Alongside celebrating underrepresented authors and main characters — disabled, BIPOC, queer and more — Lily is passionate about writing romance that centers marginalized voices. In 2024, she was a finalist for the Associates of the Boston Public Library’s Writer-in-Residence fellowship for children’s and young adult writers. When she’s not writing or bookselling, Lily can be found traveling, singing off-key karaoke, or spoiling her twin sister’s Wheaten Terrier–Poodle mix."
MADHU MESSENGER
2025 ADULT ROMANCE BOOK MENTEE
Madhu is a first-generation Indian American living in rainy Oregon with her husband, three children, and a scaredy dog. Madhu is happiest when writing about spunky characters having magical adventures. She searches for stories that haven't been told and strives to provide fresh perspectives on events that bind us together. She writes picture books, middle grade, and women’s fiction.
Her work has been supported by a We Need Diverse Books mentorship and scholarships from Children’s Book Academy and 12x12 Challenge. Her wedding, which included great joy, flying shoes, and sneaky in-laws, inspired The Wedding Shoe Snatch, her debut picture book.
She is a member of Inked Voices and the Yale Women Writer’s Group and is represented by Marisa Cleveland at the Seymour Agency.
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