Upcoming Women Laughing Screenings 

Women Laughing, Liza Donnelly and Kathleen Hughes documentary film about New Yorker women cartoonists past and present, will be screened at a number of venues beginning this Spring and into the Fall. You can see the schedule here.

Please note that three screenings are happening within the next few days:

Portland Museum of Art
May 9, 2026 Portland, ME

The Moviehouse
May 9, 2026 Millerton, NY
Followed by conversation with Liza Donnelly, Kathleen Hughes, Amy Hwang. 

The Church
May 15, 2026 Sag Harbor, NY
Followed by conversation with Liza Donnelly, Kathleen Hughes and Emma Allen.

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Update: Thurber Prize For American Humor In Writing Awarded

Congrats to Shalom Auslander for being awarded the 2026 Thurber Prize for American Humor in Writing … and congrats once again to Emily Flake the (previously announced) 2026 Thurber Prize winner for American Humor In Cartoon Art.

Thurber Prizes Awarded Tonight In Columbus

From The Columbus Dispatch, May 5, 2026, “Thurber Prize For American Humor To Celebrate Laughter In Literature” [and cartoons!].

The Spill again congratulates Emily Flake for being named the 2026 recipient of the Thurber Prize For American Humor In Cartoon Art. The winner for literature will be announced this evening.

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Latest Addition to The Archives…A Script

A script came this way recently, courtesy of a loyal Spill reader (thank you loyal Spill reader!).

Exhibit Of Interest: Edward Sorel & Madeline Sorel 

Sorry I missed the opening date of this exhibit, but there are still two weeks left to see it. Edward Sorel and his eldest daughter, Madeline Sorel in a joint exhibit of their work. From Kingsborough Community College’s Linkedin :

Father and daughter are now launching a unique joint-show at the college where Madeline has taught illustration for the past 25 years. The Family Line: Edward and Madeline Sorel, seeks to tell the story through each artist’s work of overcoming external influences to develop one’s own voice and in doing so, develop their own sense of self.

The exhibit is at the Kingsborough Art Museum (KAM) at Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY. The show, free and open to the public, runs through May 20.

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 Madeline Sorel, an illustrator, collagist, felt artist and, the past 25 years, professor in Kingsborough Community College’s art department.

Edward Sorel’s A-Z Entry:

Edward Sorel (self-portrait above from a strip appearing in The Nation following the death of Marlene Dietrich. Drawing used by permission of Mr. Sorel). Born 1929. New Yorker work: 1990 – . All of Mr. Sorel’s books are of great interest; Unauthorized Portraits (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) is particularly essential. Website: edwardsorel.net

Two New Yorker Artists Are Pulitzer Finalists

We learned yesterday that Peter Kuper (above, left) and Ivan Ehlers (on the right) were named finalists in the Pulitzer Prize category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. The Spill congratulates both of these fine folks.

Mr. Kuper began contributing to The New Yorker in 2011; Mr. Ehlers in 2021.

Peter Kuper’s website

Ivan Ehlers’ website

See the full list of 2026 winners and finalists here.

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Article Of Interest: Alan Dunn’s Architectural Drawings

From Apollo Magazine, April 27, 2026, “The Cartoonist with A Fine Line In Architectural Criticism” 

— this piece by Will Wiles comes just weeks before the publication of Gabriele Neri’s Alan Dunn: The Cartoonist As Architectural Critic (May 25, 2026. MIT Press).

Mr. Dunn was, for many years, the most published New Yorker artist.

(My thanks to Mike Rhode for the link) 

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Alan Dunn’s A-Z Entry:

Alan Dunn (self portrait above from Meet the Artist) Born in Belmar, New Jersey, August 11, 1900, died in New York City, May 20, 1974. New Yorker work: 1926 -1974 Key collections: Rejections (Knopf, 1931), Who’s Paying For This Cab? (Simon & Schuster, 1945), A Portfolio of Social Cartoons ( Simon & Schuster, 1968). One of the most published New Yorker cartoonists (1,906 cartoons) , Mr. Dunn was married to Mary Petty — together they lived and worked at 12 East 88th Street, where, according to the NYTs, Alan worked “seated in a small chair at a card table, drawing in charcoal and grease pencil.”

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More Dunn…Rejections (Knopf, 1931), and Who’s Paying for This Cab? A Book of Cartoons from the New Yorker (Simon and Schuster, 1945).

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The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker

The Cartoonists and Cartoons

Nineteen cartoons, twenty cartoonists in this themed (“America At 250”) double issue* (Barry Blitt has the cover). One duo, that we know of (the Spill counts duos as one cartoonist). No newbies. Liana Finck has a ‘Sketchbook” as well as a cartoon.

*Not counting the three cartoonists whose drawings appear as part of the Cartoon Caption Contest. However, the longest active contributing cartoonist in the issue is Mort Gerberg, who supplied this week’s Caption Contest drawing (he began contributing in 1965).

This week’s cartoons (in a slideshow).

The Cartoon Caption Contest 

The Rea Irvin Talk Watch

Back in May of 2017, the above perfect Talk design by Rea Irvin was carted away (after appearing for 92 years!) and replaced –if you can believe it — by a redraw via a contemporary illustrator. The Spill continues to hope Mr. Irvin’s work returns. Read more here.

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Rea Irvin’s A-Z

Rea Irvin (pictured above. Self portrait above from Meet the Artist) Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art and only art supervisor (some refer to him as its first art editor) holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title of art editor. Irvin then became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn officially succeeded Harold Ross in early 1952. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time. Number of New Yorker covers (not including the repeat appearances of the first cover every anniversary up to 1991): 179. Number of cartoons contributed: 261.

Tilley Watch Online, The Week of April 27–May 1, 2026

An end of the week listing of New Yorker artists whose work has appeared on newyorker.com features

Daily Cartoon: Lynn Hsu, Enrico Pinto, (the duo of) Sophie Lucido Johnson and Sammi Skolmoski, Sarah Kempa, Hilary Campbell. See them here (in a slideshow).

Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook: “Charles And Donald See Eye To Eye”

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Pomp And Circumstance: A slideshow of graduation cartoons (the below, from the great Warren Miller,* is just one of many in this online special feature.

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*Warren Miller’s A-Z Entry:

Warren Miller (photo by Liza Donnelly, NYC, Sept. 1997) Born 1936, Chicago, Ill. The following biographical information comes from The Phoenix Gallery site which hosted a group exhibit of NYer cartoonists work (Lorenz, Harris, Modell, and Miller) in 2007: “Warren Miller studied commercial and fine art at the American Academy of Art, Chicago. He started selling cartoons to Playboy and The New Yorker in 1961 and moved to New York City later that year. Miller’s work has also appeared in Esquire, Punch, Rolling Stone, Audubon, Harvard Business Review, Barrons, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, and the London Sunday Times. Mr. Miller is a painter and a sculptor as well. He has exhibited his work in a number of shows in the New York area and in the Midwest.” Key collections: All Thumbs (Bobbs-Merrill,1967); Prince and Mrs. Charming (Bobbs-Merril, 1970). New Yorker work: 1959 -.

Polly Lou Adams Guests On The Latest Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast

Polly Lou Adams (upper left in the photo), who began contributing to The New Yorker in June of 2025, joins two of four CCCP co-hosts, Paul Nesja (upper right) and Nicole Chrolavicius. It’s Episode #249 for those keeping track. Listen here. 

Visit Polly Lou Adams website here. ___________________________________________________________________

A New Yorker State Of Mind Digs Into The Issue Of April 25, 1936

A New Yorker State of Mind: Reading Every Issue of The New Yorker Magazine continues its good work. 

Read it here. 

Cover by Rea Irvin: Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art and only art supervisor (some refer to him as its first art editor) holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title of art editor. Irvin then became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn officially succeeded Harold Ross in early 1952. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time. Number of New Yorker covers (not including the repeat appearances of the first cover every anniversary up to 1991): 179. Number of cartoons contributed: 261. 

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Article Of Interest…Guy Richards Smit

From The Creative Independent, April 30, 2026, Mr. Smit’s  conversation with Brandon Stosay. 

Guy Richards Smit began contributing to The New Yorker in 2022.

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Live Interview Of Interest: Liza Donnelly On Radio Free Rhinecliff

Liza Donnelly, long-time New Yorker contributor, and filmmaker (Women Laughing) will be live today at 5 on Radio Free Rhinecliff. Listen here.  

Photo: Eric Korenman

“His People Simply Happen”

In a 1989 collection, Conversations With James Thurber (University Press of Mississippi) edited by Thomas Fensch, there’s a terrif article, “Melancholy Doodler,” by Arthur Millier (it originally appeared in The Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, July 2, 1939). Thurber was forty-four at the time, and in the last year of the best decade of his life, drawings-wise. His eyesight, by May of ’39, had already worsened  to the point of his “struggling to type, read, and draw.”

The article makes no mention of Thurber’s eyesight or his struggles — it rolls along as if all’s well in Thurberland. Here are just a few quotes from the piece (I’d run the whole thing, but don’t want to get into a copyright muddle).

Thurber speaking to Millier:

“You are probably the only person in America who knows I write.” he said bitterly. “They all say: ‘Oh yes, Thurber?–the guy makes those crazy drawings?'”

“i’m not an artist. I’m a painstaking writer who doodles for relaxation. But it’s those doodles they go for…They’ve even labeled me a Dadiast and a surrealist…”

“I almost never have a piece of writing turned down [by The New Yorker]. They print them all — but who reads them? Whereas my drawings — the things people know me for — are often turned down.”

“Captions can make a drawing. Some of my drawings lie around the office for years — waiting for an inspired line.”

Finally, here’s Millier talking about Thurber’s drawings:

“When Thurber begins a drawing of these curious yet strangely familiar people, he rarely knows what they will look like or do. He just lets his hand move with a pencil in it. His people simply happen…”

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–The undated drawing above can be found at Vassar’s Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center.  ________________

James Thurber’s A-Z Entry:

James Thurber Born, Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1894. Died 1961, New York City. New Yorker work: 1927 -1961, with several pieces run posthumously. According to the New Yorker’s legendary editor, William Shawn, “In the early days, a small company of writers, artists, and editors — E.B. White, James Thurber, Peter Arno, and Katharine White among them — did more to make the magazine what it is than can be measured.”

Key cartoon collection: The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments (Harper & Bros., 1932). Key anthology (writings & drawings): The Thurber Carnival (Harper & Row, 1945). There have been a number of Thurber biographies. Burton Bernstein’s Thurber (Dodd, Mead, 1975) and Harrison Kinney’s James Thurber: His Life and Times (Henry Holt & Co., 1995) are essential. Website

National Cartoonists Society Announces Finalists

Photos, top row: Joe Dator, Amy Hwang, Tom Toro; middle row: Jason Chatfield, Tom Chitty; bottom row: Liniers, Garry Trudeau

A number of New Yorker contributors are finalists for this years NCS awards. Joe Dator, Amy Hwang, and Tom Toro are the finalists in the single panel group. Jason Chatfield is one of three finalists for Book Illustration. Tom Chitty is one of the three finalists in the Book and Magazine Illustration category. Liniers and Garry Trudeau are among the Newspaper Strip finalists.

The full slate of nominees for the 2026 awards, and more info on the awards themselves can be found here.

Congrats to all!

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Liza Donnelly In Conversation With Andy Borowitz Today, Live At 3 (EST). 

Andy Borowitz, of the popular Borowitz Report will be a guest on long-time New Yorker contributor (and now filmmaker) Liza Donnelly’s Substack, Seeing Things, today at 3 (EST).

Liza Donnelly’s website.

More about Andy Borowitz.

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Hilary Campbell’s Cartoon Strips

Hilary Campbell has announced the first of a new monthly show at the Greenpoint Comedy Club.This first one includes her fellow New Yorker contributor, Emily Flake.

Exhibit Of Interest: Mick Stevens to Show Work On Martha’s Vineyard 

Mick Stevens, who began contributing to The New Yorker in December of 1979, tells the Spill that:

“There’s a show of a dozen or so of my older original New Yorker drawings here at The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven. The show will run for the entire month of May. The artist will be lurking there from time to time.”

Here’s a personal fave New Yorker drawing by Mr. Stevens (not sure this will be included in the exhibit) :

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Some Stevens Cartoon Collections…

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A New Yorker State Of Mind Looks At The Issue Of April 18, 1936

Such fun New Yorker time traveling via the weekly New Yorker State of Mind posts.

This week: the issue of April 18, 1936.

Read it here!

Cover by the one-and-only Rea Irvin.

The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker

The Cartoonists and Cartoons

Thirteen cartoons, thirteen cartoonists. No newbies. No duos, that we know of. The longest active contributing cartoonist in the issue is this cartoonist (my drawing of a fife-playing bear appears on the Cartoon Caption Contest page with this week’s winning caption).

This week’s cartoons (in a slideshow)

This week’s Cartoon Caption Contest (Robert Leighton provides the latest contest drawing).

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The Rea Irvin Talk Watch

Way back in 2017, Rea Irvin’s 92 year old Talk design (shown here) was yanked and replaced by…I can’t even believe I’m writing this: a redrawn version by a contemporary illustrator. The Spill continues to hope that Mr. Irvin’s work returns. Read more here.

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Rea Irvin’s A-Z Entry:

Rea Irvin (pictured above. Self portrait above from Meet the Artist) Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art and only art supervisor (some refer to him as its first art editor) holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title of art editor. Irvin then became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn officially succeeded Harold Ross in early 1952. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time. Number of New Yorker covers (not including the repeat appearances of the first cover every anniversary up to 1991): 179. Number of cartoons contributed: 261.

A New Yorker State Of Mind Digs Into The Issue Of April 11, 1936

A New Yorker State Of Mind: Reading Every Issue Of The New Yorker: always fun, always interesting reading.

This week: the issue of April 11, 1936. Read it here. 

Cover by Helen Hokinson.

Her A-Z Entry:

Helen Hokinson (above) Born, Illinois,1893; died, Washington, D.C., 1949. New Yorker work: 1925 -1949, with some work published posthumously. All of Hokinson’s collections are wonderful, but here are two favorites. Her first collection: So You’re Going To Buy A Book! (Minton, Balch & Co, 1931) and what was billed as “the final Hokinson collection”: The Hokinson Festival (Dutton & Co., 1956). According to a New Yorker document produced during Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) rating their artists, Ms. Hokinson and Peter Arno occupied a special category unto themselves above all others.

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