Kelly Starling Lyons Named the 2021 Piedmont Laureate Kelly Starling Lyons The children's literature writer Kelly Starling Lyons has been named the 2021 Piedmont Laureate. Starling Lyons, a Raleigh native, has been writing children's books since 2004 and is the author of 17 titles, including illustrated biographies of Misty Copeland and the late Durham architect Phil Freelon, as well as the award-winning Going Down Home with Daddy. She is also a founding member of the Brown Bookshelf, a collective founded to raise awareness of "the myriad Black voices writing for young readers." "Iâm excited about the possibility of amplifying and celebrating childrenâs literature in a new way," Starling Lyons told the