“Kiona — or Kiwi, as her family calls her—grew up living with her moshom (grandpa) and a revolving door of relatives on scrip land. Affectionately called “the farm”, Kiwi shares a small portion of her home—a spot where she played with her cousins, daydreamed about her future, listened to her family’s stories across generations, and learned about the complexities of heartbreak.

 

In We Were Younger Once, artist Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet follows a non-linear series of mini memories growing up as a dirt kid on the prairies (an affectionate term from her mother), the wistfulness of leaving home, and the visits that will always bring her back.”

 

This book was written between the Summer of 2021 and Summer 2022, with support from Conundrum Press as part of their project CONUNDRUM 25. We Were Younger Once is a pocketbook of 90 single panel pages, and is Kiona’s first book. 

 

It was written between many visits home, complete with coffee breaks and pickled garlic, and at its core is a love letter to her family and the Farm.

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a short excerpt from We Were Younger Once