Alumni Spotlight: Kirk Reedstrom ‘16

Born in Houston, Texas, Kirk Reedstrom spent most of his childhood drawing and reading Calvin & Hobbes. He studied at Centenary College of Louisiana where he sang in the Centenary College Choir, performed with the Hurley School of Music, became the Jazz & Blues Director of 91.3FM KSCL, and collected internships like Pokémon cards which included roles at Blade Studios, Ropeadope Records, the Bossier Arts Council, the Carreno Group, and Moonbot Studios, where he worked as a production intern on the Oscar award-winning animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore. Kirk currently lives in Shreveport, Louisiana with his wife, Sarah Duet, and their temperamental cat, Nash. When he isn’t working as the Manager of Social Media & Digital Services for Shreve Memorial Library, Kirk spends most of his time making funny books for kids with heartfelt characters and a little bit of mayhem. He is the creator of Somebody Write This Book, a monthly-ish newsletter of drawing and story prompts, a Roster Artist with the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, has trained as a Primetime Storyteller with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and his comics zines have been featured in Salon, Relief Journal, The Quaranzine, and All Things Considered. Duck And Moose, his debut graphic novels series for kids, will be published by Disney-Hyperion on March 5, 2024.

What advice would you give to young graduates as they begin navigating the professional world outside of Centenary?

"Much more than talent, persistence and building a community of support has been my only route to any kind of success. Sometimes what initially looks like a failure can turn into an opportunity. When we are students (or at least this was true for me when I was a student), we are often too hard on ourselves when we don't make achievements early enough. My advice is to go easier on yourselves. Life is already hard enough!"