Michael Cavna is an American writer, artist and cartoonist. He is creator of the "Comic Riffs" column for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. His column has received more than a dozen national awards from the Society for Features Journalism, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.

Career

He graduated from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. His "Wise Up" cartoon launched the viral # Draw4Atena campaign in 2015 on behalf of jailed Iranian artist Atena Farghadani. Cavna wrote the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

-nominated journalism profile for the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

-nominated book ''Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's''. He was the emcee and co-programmer of the first-ever "Graphic Novel Night" Pavilion at the Library of Congress's

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is an annual literary festival held in Washington, D.C. in the United States; it is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, and was founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 19 ...

. In February 2015, Cavna began a cartoon that was updated monthly to mark the 545-day detention of American-Iranian journalist

Jason Rezaian Jason Rezaian (; born on March 16, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran news bureau, bureau chief for ''The Washington Post''. He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2015. On July 22, 2014, Irania ...

of ''The Washington Post;'' the

National Press Club A press club is an organization for journalists and others who are professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press Club ...

used the cartoon to raise awareness about Rezaian's case.

Awards

In April 2016, his "Comic Riffs" column was an

finalist for journalism. In April 2017, his "Comic Riffs" columns received a

National Headliner Award National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

for lifestyle writing. In May 2017, "Comic Riffs" received a second

nomination for journalism. In October 2017, Cavna shared his personal "Peanuts" history in the

-winning book ''Celebrating Snoopy.'' In April 2018, Cavna, with narrator/animator Tom Racine, won the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

for his audio/visual storytelling for For Art's Sake. In April 2019, his "Comic Riffs" column portfolio of arts writing and illustration received a second

. In June 2020, his "Comic Riffs" received a third

nomination for journalism. In 2021, Cavna’s cultural coverage received a third National Headliner Award. In 2023, Cavna received the Ink Bottle Award from the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

References

External links

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/michael-cavna/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavna, Michael Living people American comics artists American editorial cartoonists American political artists American humorists American humorous columnists American male journalists American art critics Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) The Washington Post people University of California, San Diego alumni