New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly tackles global issues with humor, intelligence and sarcasm. Her latest project supports the United Nations initiative Cartooning For Peace.
Liza Donnelly, an American cartoonist and writer best known for her work in The New Yorker and as resident cartoonist for CBS News, will present the Liberal Arts Forum Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium. The title of her talk is “Drawing On Humor for Change.”
Donnelly is creator of digital live drawing, a new form of journalism wherein she draws using a tablet and shares impressions and visual reports of events and news instantly on social media. She writes and illustrates a regular column for Medium on politics and global women’s rights and is the author of 17 books.
When Liza Donnelly joined The New Yorker in 1982, she was the youngest cartoonist on staff and one of only three women at the time to draw cartoons for the magazine. She’s still there. In 2005, Donnelly wrote the definitive book about her colleagues: “Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons.” She’s been part of many other books, including “Sex and Sensibility,” “Cartoon Marriage” (about her life with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin) and a popular series of dinosaur books for kids. Her latest is “Women on Men.”
In 2007, Donnelly joined the United Nations initiative Cartooning for Peace. She travels worldwide to speak out about freedom of speech, world peace and other global issues. Along with her New Yorker cartoons, Donnelly writes a column for Forbes, and draws a weekly political cartoon for Medium. She’s a founding member of the U.S. branch of the international organization FECO, and has taught at Vassar College and The School of Visual Arts. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Connecticut and is a cultural envoy for the U.S. State Department, traveling to speak about women’s rights, freedom of expression and cartoons.
Through digital live drawing, Donnelly has completed work for numerous media outlets including CBS News, The New Yorker, Fusion, NBC and covered live the Oscars, Democratic National Convention, national presidential debates, the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, among others.
The Liberal Arts Forum, an Elon SGA-funded organization, hosts speaker visits on campus each semester. Most events are free to the public and a ticket is not required. Our speaker presentations qualify for cultural programming credit in many classes. Ask your professor.
To recommend a speaker, or learn more about the organization, attend a weekly class meeting on Tuesdays at 4:15 p.m. in Carlton 309.