Congrats to Jen Sorensen for winning this year’s Herblock Prize for excellence in editorial cartooning. She’s been at it for years and it’s great to see her as the first female to win this award. It was also exciting to see a presentation by journalist Bob Woodward of Herb Block’s Nixon cartoons.
I first saw Jen’s cartooning while I was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. There was a local weekly newspaper which really blew my mind back then called Punchline and Jen’s cartoon Slowpoke was published in it. This was also a time when I was discovering Elizabeth Watasin’s Charm School and James Kochalka at Velocity Comics down the street from my dorm. It was a great moment of eye-opening inspiration for me on those Richmond streets.
I remember purchasing Jen’s first Slowpoke book at the VCU bookstore back then. A couple of years later I would meet her at SPX when I worked as a volunteer. Last year, I got to hang out with her at the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards weekend. Above is a photo from Keith Robinson at NCS — left to right: Barbara Dale, Carolyn Belefski, Jen Sorensen, Cathy Guisewite, Teresa Roberts Logan).
Congrats again to Jen! My favorite is her Drooly Julie character.
What a wonderful evening in DC last night. Thanks to all the local cartoonists who came out to support Jen and the US Library of Congress for hosting us.
You can see more photos for the 2014 Herblock Prize on the Curls Studio Facebook page and give us a “Like” while you’re at it: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152355637727381.1073741845.50763422380&type=1