Martyn Turner (born 1948) is an English-born Irish political cartoonist,

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

and writer, working for the

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

since 1971. His cartoons appear four times a week in the newspaper, parodying current events.

Life

Early life and education

Turner was born in Wanstead, Essex and grew up in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was educated at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent day school located in Woodford Green, London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School an ...

. In 1967, he went to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, enrolling at Queen's University Belfast where he read geography. Turner was the first member of his family to go to university. Returning to London for his first Christmas break from college, he learned that his grandparents came from both Irish Catholic and Scottish Presbyterian backgrounds. He declared himself neutral in all matters northern Irish. Living in Belfast exposed Turner to the

sectarianism Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

of the city and he experienced the initial years of the

Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

. Northern Ireland politics have been a major theme in his work.

Career

Around 1970, he began drawing professionally for the ''Sunday News''. Upon graduation, he joined the Belfast current affairs magazine ''Fortnight'', where he became assistant editor, editor and then co-editor with Tom Hadden. In 1976 he was made political cartoonist at the ''

'', where he still draws four cartoons a week and writes occasionally. The Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate / New York Times distribute some of Turner's cartoons to over 200 journals and newspapers around the world. He has also worked for British various publications such as ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'', '' Business AM'', ''The Business'', ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' and the Paris-based current affairs magazine ''Courrier International'', as well as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''.

Personal life

Turner lives in County Kildare with his wife. In 2020, he became an Irish citizen through naturalisation."Cartoon Irishman: Martyn Turner on belatedly becoming a new citizen"
''The Irish Times'', 2 March 2020 He has one son and two grandsons. He is a lifelong supporter of Leyton Orient.

Recognition

Turner has been recognised and honoured with: :*1997, Commentator of the Year Award, Irish Media Awards :*1998, award of an honorary doctorate by the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

:*2001, award of European Political Cartoonist of the Year,

Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi ...

:*2001, award of an honorary doctorate by Queen's University Belfast :*2010, Canadian Human Rights Awards :*2010, Tonight Media Awards, Dublin

Publications

Solo works

* ''End Games'' (Irish Times Books, 2020) * ''Turner's Taoisigh – My Brush With Kildare Street'' (Irish Times Books, 2014) * ''Our Work Here Is Done'' (Irish Times Books, 2011) * ''Up Every Tree- The bumper Book of Bertie'' (Gill and Macmillan, October 2006) * ''Martyn Turner's Greatest Hits'' (Gill & Macmillan, 28 October 2003) * ''Railings'' (Blackstaff Press, October 2000) * ''The Golfer's Guide to World History'' (Blackstaff Press, November 1999) * ''Brace Yourself, Bridge It!'' (Blackstaff Press, October 1998) * ''The Noble Art of Politics'' (Blackstaff Press, October 1996) * ''Pack Up Your Troubles'' (Blackstaff Press, September 1995) * ''The Odd Couple'' (Irish Times Books, November 1994) * ''Politics et al.'' (Irish Times Books, 1992) * ''The Long Goodbye: A cartoon tribute to a

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

'' (Irish Times Books, 1992) * ''The Man Who Won the Tour De France'' (Gill & Macmillan, 31 October 1991) * ''Not Viking Likely'' (Irish Life Viking Adventure, 1988) * ''Heavy Weather'' (Gill & Macmillan, 31 December 1989) * ''Fistful of Dáilers'' (Gill & Macmillan, 20 October 1987) * 'Illuminations' (Boethius Press 1986) * ''Martyn Turner: The Book'' (Irish Times Books, 1983) In 2007,2008,2009,2010 and 2011 The Irish Times published a calendar of Turner cartoons, given away free with the newspaper

Collaborative works

* ''Thin Black Lines Rides Again'' – Colm Regan, Scott Sinclair, Martyn Turner (TIDE – June 1994) * ''Cattle Rustling: A Retelling of the Táin'' – James Simmons, Martyn Turner (Fortnight Educational – December 1991) * ''Thin Black Lines'' – Colm Regan, Scott Sinclair * ''Columba – A cartoon History of The Americas'' (Potatoe Press)

Illustration

* ''Pull the Door Marked Push: Inside the High I. Q. Society'' – Anne Schulman (Granta Editions, Nov 1992)

References

External links

Last Sunday's Martyn Turner cartoon. (The Irish Times is not published on a Sunday.)Biography at the British Cartoon Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Martyn People from Wanstead English cartoonists English humorists British editorial cartoonists English caricaturists People educated at Bancroft's School Alumni of Queen's University Belfast 1948 births Living people