Political Cartoonist of the Year
Megan Herbert
A first-time winner of this title, Megan Herbert is an artist, writer and cartoonist whose work appears in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She has been writing for television and film, cartooning, live-drawing, designing products and creating children's books for more than 20 years. After 13 years living abroad in the United Kingdom, Iceland and the Netherlands, Herbert returned to Australia in 2020 to live on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
Herbert was a runaway winner in the voting for this year's award. Her nuanced works cleverly embrace multiple references and meanings. She covered the big themes of the year, including the spiralling cost of living, climate change, domestic violence, the housing crisis and various election races. The judges stated that she 'demonstrated an impressive and sophisticated range of tone, subject matter, visual technique and creativity' and that her 'portfolio demonstrates versatility of graphic composition and a sophisticated approach to metaphor.
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