Umohowet Taushi Yelayu is an award-winning writer & musician from the Midwestern United States.

As a published poet & author, journalist, & pianist-composer, Yelayu has received awards and funding from The Academy of American Poets, Sundance Institute, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, National YoungArts Foundation, United States Artists, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Amazon Literary Partnership, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, & The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.