Laura Deal is a storyteller, poet, dream reader, and Laughter Yoga leader who strives to build compassion in the world. She tells traditional, personal, historical, and original stories to children and adults (and sometimes lies). She is the 2024 recipient of the J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award. You can hear her stories on Story Story Podcast and the Apple Seed on BYU Radio, as well as YouTube and on her recordings, The Diffendaffer Taffy Cafe and Other Stories and Simple, Clever, and Wise. She's the author of The Newcomer's Guide to the Invisible Realm: A Journey through Dreams, Metaphor, and Imagination, and Marbles: New and Collected Poems. www.LauraDeal.com