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!).

The Tilley Watch Online, May 11-15, 2026

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

Daily Cartoon: Mo Welch, Adam Douglas Thompson, Brendan Loper, Avi Steinberg, (the duo of) Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby. See them here. 

The Daily: How To Win Our Cartoon Caption Contest— a Q&A with Caroline Mimbs Nyce and the magazine’s deputy cartoon editor, Rachel Aster Perlman.

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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 -.

Favorite Beatle?

Here’s a somewhat autobiographical drawing from The New Yorker (December 28, 1992) posted today in celebration of Paul McCartney‘s just released, well-received, new album, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane. 

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The Tilley Watch Online, May 25-29, 2026

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

Daily Cartoon: Emily Flake, Juan Astasio, Paul Noth, Adam Douglas Thompson, P.C. Vey. See them here.

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Q&A Of Interest With Hilary Campbell

From Graphic Memoirs Blog, May 29, 2026, “From The New Yorker To Graphic Memoir: Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell”

Ms. Campbell began contributing to The New Yorker in 2017. Visit her website here.

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Rich Sparks’ Upcoming Draw Me Anything Appearance 

Rich Sparks, whose first New Yorker drawing appeared in 2016 joins a New Yorker colleague, Jason Chatfield this coming Wednesday on Mr. Chatfield’s Draw Me Anything! (Mr. Chatfield began contributing to the magazine in 2017). They’ll most certainly discuss Mr. Sparks’ latest book (below).

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Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast Celebrates Its 250 Episode

Congrats to the fine folks at the Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast on their 250th! Listen to their special episode here. 

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Paul Noth Cartoon Collection Cover Revealed

The collection by Mr. Noth, who has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2004, will be out this October.

Award Of Interest…Bruce Eric Kaplan

From New Jersey Stage, May 15, 2026, “Bruce Eric Kaplan To Receive The Maplewood Literary Award On May 21st” 

Mr. Kaplan (who signs his work “BEK”) began contributing to The New Yorker in 1991. His most recent book is They Went Another Way: A Hollywood Memoir (Henry Holt & co., 2024)

Below: his first cartoon collection (1999), and his memoir (2015):

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Hilary Campbell Has A Sketchbook Club

Hilary Campbell began contributing to The New Yorker in 2017. All the details about her Sketchbook Club can be found here on Instagram.Her most recent book is The Joy Of Snacking (Andrews McMeel, 2025).

Visit her website here.

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Liana Finck Speaks

From Dorotusa, “An Afternoon With Cartoonist Liana Finck” — notice of an online appearance on May 27th where, according to the organization’s  website:

“Cartoonist and graphic novelist Liana Finck talks about her New Yorker cartoons and her books, which include an adaptation of Yiddish advice column A Bintel Brief and Let There Be Light, an adaptation of the Book of Genesis.” All the info here.

Liana Finck began contributing to The New Yorker in 2013. Visit her website here.

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

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

Sixteen cartoons, eighteen cartoonists (Ed Steed has “Spots”; Ben Schwartz has a “Sketchpad”). One duo (the Spill considers duos as one cartoonist). No newbies. The longest active cartoonist in the issue is Roz Chast, whose first New Yorker drawing appeared in the issue of July 3, 1978.

This week’s cartoons (in a slideshow)

This week’s Cartoon Caption Contest (Felipe Galindo provides the drawing for this week’s contest).

The Rea Irvin Talk Watch

Rea Irvin’s above design, which ran in The New Yorker for 92 years, was disappeared in May of 2017 and replaced by — no joke! — a redraw 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.

                                                  Happy Birthday, Liza Donnelly!

The Spill sends birthday greetings to long-time New Yorker contributor, Liza Donnelly, seen above attempting to take it easy for a few minutes in Maine a few years ago.

Born in Washington, D.C., then high-tailing it asap to New York City, she has been contributing to The New Yorker since 1979. Among the many hats she wears, the most recent is filmmaker. Her documentary on The New Yorker‘s women cartoonists, Woman Laughing, co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, is making the rounds, festival-wise this year.

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— Drawing above: Donnelly’s first drawing bought by The New Yorker). Although sold in 1979, the magazine didn’t run it until November 22, 1982.

–Photo above: taken by this cartoonist 

The Tilley Watch Online, May 18-22, 2026

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

Daily Cartoon: (the duo of) Joe Dator and Kevin Maher, Sam Hurt, Adam Douglas Thompson, Matt Reuter, J.A.K.. See them here.

Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook: “From Heel To Calf”

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Ellie Black Guests On The Latest Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast

Ellie Black, who began contributing to The New Yorker in February of 2019 (February 11th, to be exact), joins the CCCP crew this week (it’s episode #251, for those keeping track). Listen here. 

Photo,  top l-r: co-hosts Nicole Chrolavicius and Paul Nesja. Bottom row: Ellie Black.

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Sidenote: Ellie Black is one the 52 New Yorker cartoonists profiled in At Wits End: Cartoonists Of The New Yorker (Clarkson Potter, 2024).