Christine Monroe (born April 17, 1962) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and author best known for her weekly comic strip “Violet Days,” which appears in the

Minneapolis Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

and

Duluth News Tribune The ''Duluth News Tribune'' (known locally as ''The Tribune'' or ''DNT'') is a newspaper based in Duluth, Minnesota. While circulation is heaviest in the Twin Ports metropolitan area, delivery extends into northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisc ...

. "Violet Days" has been in print since 1996. Her work has been published in Funny Times,

Ripsaw A ripsaw (or rip saw) is a wood saw that is specially designed for making a rip cut, a cut made parallel to the direction of the wood grain. Design The cutting edge of each tooth has a flat front edge and it is angled backward by about 8°, in ...

, the Funny Pages, Zenith City Arts, Madcap, Twin Cities Reader, City Pages, Pulse of the Twin Cities, Transistor, and Ruminator. An anthology of her comic strips, “Ultra Violet: 10 Years of Violet Days” was published in 2004 by X-Communication. Monroe has written and illustrated eight children's books, including the Monkey with a Tool Belt series. She has also illustrated four books for other authors. Kirkus Reviews wrote of her book, ''Sneaky Sheep'' (2010), "The silly antics will tickle young readers, who will want to visit with these daring sheep again and again. Fun for all." She has exhibited her oil pastel drawings and comics at the Duluth Art Institute,

Tweed Museum of Art The Tweed Museum of Art is a museum on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth, in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. The Tweed Museum of Art was established in 1950 when Alice Tweed Tuohy, widow of George P. Tweed, donated their house an ...

Rifle Sport Gallery Rifle Sport Alternative Art Gallery was an underground art space open from 1985 to 1988 in the Block E (Minneapolis), Block E segment of Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was an important and groundbreaking venue for non-mains ...

, WARM, Katherine E. Nash Gallery,

Palazzo Sclafani Palazzo Sclafani is a medieval former aristocratic palace located on Piazza della Vittoria #14, in Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. Across the Piazza della Vittoria park rises the Palazzo dei Normanni and the street along the park leads in a bloc ...

, and other galleries, coffee shops, and dimly lit hallways...

Personal life

Monroe was born and raised in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. She graduated from the

Minneapolis College of Art and Design The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

. She lived in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

area from 1980 to 1998, before returning to Duluth. She has a son, Michael Winslow Sweere.

Awards and honors

In 1999,

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

named her Best Local Cartoonist, writing: “Monroe's scratchy, winsome Violet Days meanders through everyday topics: the merits of various candies, the habits of squirrels, the shoplifting rituals of young girls. And each quick meditation is delivered with a deadpan tone that indicates a sharp wit honed against life's frailties and absurdities." She is the recipient of the 2015 George Morrison Award for excellence in art. In 2016, she won an Emmy Award for her animation artwork for "Kevin Kling: Lost And Found," a documentary produced by TPT. She has been voted "Best Local Artist," "Best Local Author," and "Best Local Cartoonist" multiple times in The Duluth News Tribune and Northland Reader. Her children's books are in five languages and have won over a dozen international awards. In 2017 she was inducted into the

Duluth East High School East High School is a public secondary school in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It educates students in grades nine through twelve. It first opened its doors in 1927 as a junior high school. In 1950, it became a senior high school to serve the ...

Hall Of Fame.

Bibliography

* ''Ultra Violet: Ten Years of "Violet Days"'' * ''Monkey with a Tool Belt'' * ''Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Noisy Problem'' * ''Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Seaside Shenanigans'' * ''Sneaky Sheep'' * ''Cookie The Walker'' * ''Bug On A Bike'' * ''Monkey With A Tool Belt and the Maniac Muffins'' * " Monkey With A Tool Belt and the Silly School Mystery"

As illustrator

* ''Big Little Brother'' by

Kevin Kling Kevin Kling is an American storyteller and a commentator for National Public Radio. Life and career Kling grew up in Osseo, Minnesota, and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. He began his career i ...

* ''Totally Uncool'' by Janice Levy * ''Big Little Mother'' by Kevin Kling * ''Trash Mountain'' by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

References

External links

Interview with Chris Monroe at Radio mnartists
American women cartoonists Living people 1962 births American cartoonists 21st-century American women {{US-cartoonist-stub