'Irish Examiner' cartoonist Harry Burton named runner-up in European awards

Harry Burton's award-winning cartoon is a simple but devastating response to the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn its 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade.  

Cartoonist Harry Burton has been announced as a runner-up for the European Cartoon Award 2022.

Burton, from Greystones in County Wicklow, was one of two runners-up for his Roe v Wade cartoon which was published in the Irish Examiner in May 2022.

His entry was one of over 400 submissions from 29 countries.

Burton, 34, who has been drawing since he was five years of age, said he couldn’t believe his cartoon was even on the longlist, saying it was “unreal to be that close.”

“When I look at all the different artists, so many of them I look up to,” he said, before adding, “I’m delighted to be up amongst such deadly artists.”

The jury included award-winning cartoonists, previous nominees, activists and experts, with Janet Anderson, chair of the panel of judges, saying that the jury was impressed by the “powerful storytelling” and “striking imagery” of many of the submitted cartoons.

“Harry Burton’s cartoon on abortion rights tackles a very big issue with wit, and in a clearly recognisable image,” she said.

Harry Burton said that his cartoon portrayed a “backwards step” after the US supreme court overturned its 1973 ruling on reproductive rights.

He explained that he wanted to use a famous artwork and Grant Woods’ painting, ‘American Gothic’.

Burton described a long road to getting where he is now, after giving up his teaching career to pursue political cartoons.

One of Harry Burton's cartoons, reflecting on Golfgate, won him much admiration and made the front page of the 'Irish Examiner'.

“I drew every day from 8am to 10pm,” he said, while sending cartoons to newspapers each day. It took him roughly a year before one of his first pieces was published.

He said he almost threw in the towel before being inspired by one Irish Examiner story, in particular, which he said was a turning point in his career: 

I remember being infuriated by Golfgate and I wanted to express something about that. 

The result made the front page.

Describing housing in Ireland as an emergency, Burton has enjoyed working on the topic.

“Cartoons can pack a bit of a punch when maybe a picture or a photo doesn’t do it justice,” he said.

His family and friends were supportive of his aspirations as a political cartoonist.

“My dad was a big fan of [ Irish Times cartoonist] Martyn Turner, and he would show me Turner’s work. The only reason I would check the newspaper when I was a kid was because I wanted to see Martyn Turner,” he said.

Burton works as a storyboard artist in addition to being a political cartoonist and plans to give cartoon classes to children online, which are to start at the end of this month.

The European Cartoon Award 2022 first prize was awarded to Cuban cartoonist Carlos David Fuentes, for his work Putin in Ukraine, published in the French magazine Courrier International.

The other runner-up, alongside Burton, was Marilena Nardi’s Afghanistan piece Buried Souls which was published in the Italian newspaper Domani.