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

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

and writer, working for the

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

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 Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

, Essex and grew up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was educated at Bancroft's School. In 1967, he went to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, enrolling at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

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 debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...

of the city and he experienced the initial years of the Troubles. 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), 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 ...

'', '' Business AM'', ''The Business'', '' The Sunday Express'', ''

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 publis ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

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

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 ...

''.

Personal life

Turner lives in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

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 Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

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

Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is an Italian sea town and ''comune'' located in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany, overlooking the Ligurian Sea. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's citizens. The population of the town, amounting to ...

:*2001, award of an honorary doctorate by

:*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 Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

'' (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