Most people start their biographies at the beginning
- when they were born. But Kekla likes to think outside the box. She lives in New York City, an exciting, wonderful
and inspiring place, where she is surrounded by fascinating people of many different backgrounds. "What's a kekla?"
people sometimes ask when they meet her.
Kekla loves reading and writing (are you surprised?) and she likes
to play with words. Her favorite game is Boggle, and she almost always wins. (If you have never played Boggle, you should!)
Even for a word
lover, it takes a lot of practice to become a good writer. Kekla went to graduate school at Vermont College of Fine Arts,
where she got to practice a lot. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree, and made lots of good friends who are
children's writers, just like she is. It is a very special gift to have people in your life who understand even the strangest
and most unique things about you (for instance, why you are willing to spend all day every day at your computer typing up
stories about imaginary people.)
Kekla moved to New York City in 2001 after finishing college. At the time, she didn't
know what she wanted to do with her life (she hadn't yet decided to be a writer), but she knew that whatever she
decided to do, New York City would probably be a place she could do it. It seemed like a city where anything is possible!
As a college student at Northwestern University, Kekla studied History, which has always been one
of her favorite subjects to read and write about. Many amazing, talented, brave and creative people have gone before
us. Hearing their stories helps Kekla understand how the world got to be the way it is today.
Kekla wrote her first novel when she was in high school. She should
have known then that she was destined to be a writer! But she just thought it was a fun thing to do in her spare time. That
story was never published, and probably never will be published, but it was very much fun to write.
Kekla always
liked telling stories, even when she was in elementary school. Her dad took her out to breakfast every Saturday,
just so that she could tell him stories about her week. Her mom read lots of books to her and took her to the library
so she could read and read and read. Kekla grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her family moved there when she was five,
and her parents still live there, so she gets to go home and visit her old childhood hot spots.
Kekla is biracial - her mom is white and her dad is black. Her mom
grew up in the U.S., but her ancestors came from Holland, Scotland and maybe elsewhere in Europe. Her dad grew up in
Cameroon, a country in western Africa.
When Kekla was very young, she lived with her parents in Cameroon
for several years. Getting to have experiences like that makes it great to be biracial!
|
|
| Kekla, age 2, in Cameroon |
Kekla was born in Michigan, in the summer of 1980. She
was born early in the morning, so her parents named her after the sunrise. "Kekla" means "morning star"
in a west African language called Bassa, which her dad speaks.
So, now you know what a Kekla is!
