You never know. You could be looking at future Broken Frontier Six to Watch artists here! The winners of the 29th Young Cartoonist Awards have been announced and you can find out more courtesy of the Cartoon Museum in the press release below.
Young Cartoonist Awards 2024
We are delighted to announce the winners of the 29th Young Cartoonist Awards competition, awarded by a panel of judges comprised of luminaries of British newspaper and comic cartooning.
On Thursday 20 March The Cartoon Museum awarded prizes for the winners and runners-up of the Young Cartoonist Awards 2024, at a gala event at the museum. Awards were presented by Nicola Jennings, Chair of the judging committee, and Leonie Mahood-Wykes, who sponsored this years competition in memory of her husband, cartoonist Ken Mahood.
The winners are:
Jess Judge (U30 winner)
Ryan Fairbanks (U30 runner-up)
Artie Hicks (U18 winner)
George Green (U18 runner-up)
Rafe Carver (Winner of the Woodcock prize for the most surreal cartoon)
The Young Cartoonist Awards, now in its 29th year, has produced winners including Nick Edwards, who went on to win an Emmy for his work on Uncle Grandpa in the US; New Yorker cartoonist Will McPhail; and political cartoonist Matt Buck. The competition awards two age categories – U18 and U30, plus a special prize given to the most surreal cartoon, the ‘Woodcock Prize’, which is given in memory of the late surrealist cartoonist Kevin Woodcock.
The Young Cartoonist Awards were originally set up as the ‘Mel Calman Young Cartoonist Competition’, in memory of the great Times cartoonist and Cartoon Arts Trust founder. In 2001 the competition morphed into its current form, led by Martin Rowson who recruited judges from each national newspaper, leading to wide publicity for the competition.
The 2024 awards were judged by a panel chaired by Guardian cartoonist Nicola Jennings, Chair of the BCA and a trustee of The Cartoon Museum, and comprised of Steve Bell, Dave Brown, Woodrow Phoenix, Ros Asquith, Charle Peattie, Pete Songi, James Mellor and Rex Yardley-Rees.
Chair of the British Cartoonists Association, Nicola Jennings said:
“The BCA are excited to be able to winkle out the new, young talent in a world where not just satire but anything funny is more than ever needed.”
Director of The Cartoon Museum, Joe Sullivan said:
“It is always fantastic to meet young artists who are picking up a pencil and drawing cartoons. We are delighted to display the winners in our learning room for the next year, to inspire the many young people that come through our doors as they learn to draw their own cartoons.”
