Our Young Authors Contest winner for this issue is Kenza Williot, who was in sixth grade at John F. Kennedy Elementary School last spring at the time of her celebrity one-on-one interview with Danielle Murrell Cox, a Montreal-based graphic artist.

Q; What were some school subjects you were good at?
A; Number one was definitely art. I was always the artsy kid. I loved art classes. Maybe a little bit of English and a little bit of math, that would probably tie at number two. Definitely not gym class, because I’m not good at gym class and I don’t like to exercise.

Q; Did your parents have any type of issue with your career choices?
A; Not at all. My mom was always very supportive of me. She was kind of artistic herself, too. She enjoyed seeing me being artistic, and she loved to see me draw. She always tried to get me courses, back then, it wasn’t really about getting stuff online, it was more about getting stuff on TV, like art classes and courses, templates you can send in the mail.

Q; Do you like being a graphic designer or being a teacher?
A; A little bit of both. I love graphic design, and I also love being able to help people and teach people. So, maybe I like being a graphic designer more than a teacher.

Q; Do they (the two careers) complement each other?
A; Yeah, for sure. I mean, graphic design can be complicated when people ask about it, but it can also be very easy. They complement each other in the sense of something that you can easily teach someone, and that you can show someone a task that they can use in the future.

Q; Where do you get your ideas for your art?
A; Oh, music. Music is a very good influence. It’s part of my everyday life. Yeah, music, my everyday life, and my environment.

Q; What inspires you to be a graphic artist?
A; My love of art. I definitely love art and what it does and how it can show emotion and make someone feel something, whether it’s love or whether it’s hate, or sadness, or happiness. So my love of art, and in the idea that I can also use graphic design to either show what I’m thinking, or show what other people are thinking. It’s the combination of my love of art and being able to show that and use that.

Q; Was it difficult to get your work published?
A; No, mainly because I work with printers on a regular basis. So I was able to work with a printer that I use on a regular basis for my client work. So let’s say one of my clients wanted a business card printed, I would go to that printer. So I had that relationship with that printer and then it was just a matter of me talking to them, saying, “I want to create a book, what are my options? What are my paper options? What can we do? How many books can I make for this price?”

Q; Why did you choose those titles for your books?
A; At first, I wanted to do Black World Magic because that was a popular term and then based off of the idea that it was so popular, I didn’t want to have to deal with copying someone’s name or something like that. I wanted to use Black Queens and Black Kings to show empowerment and to show that there’re better things for people of colour because so many negative things are going on and happening. And it was just a matter of showing positivity.

Q; What was the most difficult decision you had to make?
A; I don’t really think there were any big difficult decisions; it was just a matter of making sure to put the time into doing it. It was more me finding the time to do it because I have client work. The book was like a personal project for me. Maybe using social media was a difficult thing because it’s not like I’m a marketer or know tons of people.

Q; Do you have any future projects? If so, what are they?
A; Currently, I want to have an art exhibition. That would be really cool. Then seeing what I can do with the characters in the books, like turn them into toys, stuffed animals, or maybe even more artwork in books.