A Response to Book Banning

Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. She is the author of over thirty books for young readers, including the award-winning picture books Bird and Melena’s Jubilee. Dragons in a Bag, a middle-grade fantasy novel, was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book and was selected for the 2021 Global Read Aloud. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, including Show Us Your Papers, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, and New Daughters of Africa; her young adult poetry collection, Say Her Name, was named a 2020 “Best of the Best” title by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. Her picture book, A Place Inside of Me, was named an ALA Notable Book and a Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English. Elliott advocates for greater diversity and equity in children's literature; her essays have appeared in Blavity, The Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. She currently lives in Chicago, IL.