Signe Wilkinson

Last updated
Signe Wilkinson
Signe Wilkinson.jpg
Wilkinson, photographed in 2015.
Born (1950-07-25) July 25, 1950 (age 73)
Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist
Notable works
Editorial cartoons
One Nation, Under Surveillance
Abortion Cartoons on Demand
Awards Pulitzer Prize - Editorial Cartooning
www.signetoons.com

Signe Wilkinson (born July 25, 1950, in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an editorial cartoonist best known for her work at the Philadelphia Daily News . Her work is described as having a "unique style and famous irreverence." [1] Wilkinson is the only female editorial cartoonist whose work has been distributed by a major syndicate. [2]

Contents

Wilkinson is the first female cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (1992) and was once named "the Pennsylvania state vegetable substitute" by the former speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 2011, Wilkinson received a Visionary Woman Award from Moore College of Art & Design. She has also won four Overseas Press Club Awards and two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for Cartooning, along with other various awards. [3]

In late 2020, Wilkinson retired as the editorial cartoonist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. [4] [5] She still publishes cartoons in Sunday editions of the Inquirer. [6]

Biography

Early life and education

Wilkinson was born into a Quaker family in Wichita Falls, Texas on July 25, 1950. She later received a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Denver. After earning her degree, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; to support herself, she later worked with graphic design at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and various regional newspapers hired her as a stringer. [7]

Career

After Wilkinson received her BA in English, she began to pursue careers in journalism. She worked as a reporter, stringing for the Daily Post, the King of Prussia, and the West Chester Daily Local News. [8] She also worked for the Quakers and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University before working for a housing project in Cyprus. This job shortly ended due to a coup d'état in Cyprus, followed by a military invasion from Turkey. [1] Once Wilkinson returned to reporting, she would draw the people she reported on.

Realizing her interest in both art and politics, Wilkinson attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for the duration of a year. During her time at the art school, she stringed for various Philadelphia and New York publications. In 1982, she earned a full-time job at the San Jose Mercury News where she spent three and a half years working as a cartoonist. [1] In the mid 1980s, Wilkinson went on to work for the Philadelphia Daily News as a cartoonist where she still draws five cartoons a week. [9] In 1992, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. [3] The same year, she released her first collection of cartoons entitled, Abortion Cartoons on Demand. [10] Additionally, Wilkinson has also created cartoons for Working Woman , Ms. , Organic Gardening , the Institute for Research on Higher Education and several other publications, such as the Friends Journal and the University Barge Club newspaper. [8]

In 1992, she published her first collection of her work, entitled Abortion Cartoons on Demand. [10] In 2005, she released her second collection of cartoons, One Nation, Under Surveillance: Cartoon Rants on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Privacy. [11]

She served as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists from 1994 to 1995. [8] [12]

On November 21, 2007, Wilkinson launched a syndicated daily comic strip with United Media entitled Family Tree. [12] This strip focused on environmental issues. Family Tree concluded on August 27, 2011. For Organic Gardening magazine, Wilkinson created a comic strip entitled Shrubbery that centered on botanical and political topics. [12] The Washington Post Writers Group syndicated Wilkinson's cartoons. [13]

Personal life

Wilkinson and her husband live in Pennsylvania with their two birds, five goldfish, and a dog named "Ginger." [8]

Awards

Notable works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Conrad</span> American political cartoonist (1924–2010)

Paul Francis Conrad was an American political cartoonist and winner of three Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning. In the span of a career lasting five decades, Conrad provided a critical perspective on eleven presidential administrations in the United States. He is best known for his work as the chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times during a time when the newspaper was in transition under the direction of publisher Otis Chandler, who recruited Conrad from the Denver Post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Editorial cartoonist</span> Artist drawing editorial cartoons that contain political or social commentary

An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current affairs in a national or international context. Political cartoonists generally adopt a caricaturist style of drawing, to capture the likeness of a politician or subject. They may also employ humor or satire to ridicule an individual or group, emphasize their point of view or comment on a particular event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruben Bolling</span> American cartoonist

Ruben Bolling is a pseudonym for Ken Fisher, an American cartoonist, the author of Tom the Dancing Bug. His work started out apolitical, instead featuring absurdist humor, parodying comic strip conventions, or critiquing celebrity culture. He came to increasingly satirize conservative politics after the September 11 attacks and Iraq war in the early 2000s. This trend strengthened with the Donald Trump presidency and right-wing populism from 2017-2020, his critiques of which earned him several cartooning awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary</span> American journalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff MacNelly</span> American cartoonist

Jeffrey Kenneth MacNelly was an American editorial cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Shoe. After Shoe had been established in papers, MacNelly created the single-panel strip Pluggers. The Wall Street Journal wrote: "MacNelly's superb draftsmanship as well as his heightened sense of the ridiculous is in the vanguard of a new generation of American cartoonists."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jen Sorensen</span> American cartoonist, born 1974

Jen Sorensen is an American cartoonist and illustrator who creates a weekly comic strip that often focuses on current events from a liberal perspective. Her work has appeared on the websites Daily Kos, Splinter, The Nib, Politico, AlterNet, and Truthout; and has appeared in Ms. Magazine, The Progressive, and The Nation. It also appears in over 20 alternative newsweeklies throughout America. In 2014 she became the first woman to win the Herblock Prize, and in 2017 she was named a Pulitzer Finalist in Editorial Cartooning.

David Horsey is an American editorial cartoonist and commentator. His cartoons appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1979 until December 2011 and in the Los Angeles Times since that time. His cartoons are syndicated to newspapers nationwide by Tribune Content Agency. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1999 and 2003.

<i>Philadelphia Daily News</i> Daily newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns The Philadelphia Inquirer, a daily newspaper in Philadelphia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bors</span> American cartoonist (born 1983)

Matt Bors is a nationally syndicated American editorial cartoonist and editor of online comics publication The Nib. Formerly the comics journalism editor for Cartoon Movement, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 and 2020, and became the first alt-weekly cartoonist to win the Herblock Prize for Excellence in Cartooning.

Michael Patrick Ramirez is an American cartoonist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His cartoons present mostly conservative viewpoints. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clay Bennett (cartoonist)</span> American cartoonist (born 1958)

Clay Bennett is an American editorial cartoonist. His cartoons typically present liberal viewpoints. Currently drawing for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Bennett is the recipient of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Auth</span> American cartoonist (1942–2014)

William Anthony Auth Jr. was an American editorial cartoonist and children's book illustrator. Auth is best known for his syndicated work originally drawn for The Philadelphia Inquirer, for whom he worked from 1971 to 2012. Auth's art won the cartoonist the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 and the Herblock Prize in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etta Hulme</span> American cartoonist

Etta Hulme was an American editorial cartoonist. Her syndicated cartoons started appearing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1972. Her drawing style has been described as "understated". Star-Telegram editorial page director Tommy Denton called her "one of the most insightful and provocative cartoonists in the country."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Morin</span> American cartoonist

Jim Morin is the internationally syndicated editorial cartoonist at the Miami Herald since 1978 and a painter, usually working in the medium of oil, of more than 40 years. His cartoons have included extensive commentary on eight U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Darrin Bell is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist and comic strip creator known for the syndicated comic strips Candorville and Rudy Park. He is a syndicated editorial cartoonist with King Features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Ohman</span> American cartoonist

Jack Ohman is an American editorial cartoonist and educator. He is currently a contributing opinion columnist and cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He formerly worked for The Sacramento Bee and the The Oregonian. His work is syndicated nationwide to over 300 newspapers by Tribune Media Services. In 2016, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Matt Davies is a British-American Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, and author and illustrator of children's books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas F. Darcy</span> American cartoonist

Thomas Francis Darcy was an American political cartoonist. While working at Newsday, he won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Anne Briardy Mergen was an editorial cartoonist who lived in Miami, Florida. Hired by the Miami Daily News in 1933, she was one of the first woman editorial cartoonists in the United States, and for most of her career was the only woman in the U.S. working as an editorial cartoonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie McMillan</span> American cartoonist

Stephanie McMillan is an American political cartoonist, editorialist, and activist from South Florida. A granddaughter of the German commercial animator Hans Fischerkoesen and the sister of Alexander Fischerkoesen, McMillan aspired to become a cartoonist from the age of ten. During her high school years, she began organizing protests against capitalism and imperialism. The Comics Journal describes McMillan's comics and cartoons as being "on the far left" of the American political spectrum, and as being focused on "anti-corporate activism."

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Background About Signe Wilkinson". www.cartoonistgroup.com. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  2. Altersitz, Katrina. "Not a Funny Situation: In the Shrinking Field of Editorial Cartoonists, Women are Scarce." American Journalism Review, vol. 27, no. 3, 2005, p. 14+. Academic OneFile. Retrieved 3 Dec. 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Signe Wilkinson". www.comics.org. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  4. Iadonisi, Matteo (January 7, 2021). "Famed Philadelphia political cartoonist retires after 35 years". WPVI .
  5. Degg, D. D. (Dec 26, 2020). "Signe Wilkinson (Semi-) Retires". The Daily Cartoonist.
  6. Wilkinson, Signe (July 30, 2023). "Not a drop to drink". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  7. Kennedy, Martha (2018). Drawn to Purpose. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 153–154. ISBN   9781496815965.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "AAEC - Signe Wilkinson Cartoonist Profile". editorialcartoonists.com. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  9. "Signe Wilkinson". ArcaMax. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  10. 1 2 3 "Signe Wilkinson". cartoonistgroup.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Signe Wilkinson". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Signe Wilkinson". lambiek.net. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  13. "About Signe Wilkinson". www.gocomics.com. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  14. "Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide: A Reporter's Notes on the Best Beer-D – Camino Books, Inc".