Ari J.'s Kinky, Curly Crown: Meet the Writer & Illustrator

Ain Heath Drew

Author

Ain Heath Drew is a writer and educator based in Atlanta, GA. First finding passion in writing poetry in high school and later falling in love with children’s literature, she’s written everything from narratives and one-act plays to articles about emerging tech. Her work has been featured in Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society, a range of independent literary magazines, and SiliconANGLE.

Drew was born in Nashville and raised in Detroit. As a graduate of Grand Valley State University and Georgia State University, she earned a BA in English Language and Literature with an emphasis on professional writing and a Master’s in Elementary Education. She’s worked in education for over a decade. In the classroom is where she realized the impact and power that a good children’s book could have. She is inspired by writers like Nikki Grimes, Ezra Jack Keates, Walter Dean Myers, and bell hooks, who beautifully transitions between children’s and adult literature. When she’s not writing or working, Drew is spending time with her son, DJ, doing art therapy, enjoying the outdoors, or reading.

Shamar Knight-Justice

Illustrator

Shamar Knight-Justice currently serves as the Founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Ethos Classical. Shamar graduated from North Carolina A&T in 2010 with a degree in Business Marketing. After graduation, he became a member of Teach For America in Charlotte, North Carolina where he taught secondary English for four years, before then moving to Washington, D.C. and becoming an elementary teacher. He joined the Ethos Classical team after being the Assistant Principal at KIPP WAYS Primary in Atlanta, GA. Shamar has also worked for Teach For America at two different training institutes for first year teachers, serving as an instructional coach for two years, and a summer school principal for three years. He is a member of the Atlanta cohort of Profound Gentlemen, which seeks to develop and retain male educators of color. In his spare time, Shamar is finishing his manuscript for a children's picture book, and enjoys window-shopping with his wife at J. Crew.