The nominations for the Press Gazette’s British Press Awards have been announced. The event takes place on Tuesday 31 March. There are seven people in the running for Cartoonist of the Year, and they are as follows:

Steve Bell, The Guardian
Dave Brown, The Independent
Michael Heath, The Mail on Sunday
Stan “Mac” McMurtry, Daily Mail
Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph
Chris Riddell, The Observer
Peter Schrank, The Independent on Sunday

The British Press Awards have been running for more than 30 years. This year’s ceremony is being held at the Grosvenor Hotel and will be hosted by Channel 4’s Jon Snow.

We spotted this great work this week …

One: Mac in the Daily Mail uses a strip format for his Obama inauguration cartoon

Two: Kipper Williams in The Guardian on insurance firm AIG dropping its Man Utd sponsorship

Three: Matt in the Daily Telegraph on greedy bankers

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
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Cartoonists Matt Pritchett and Nicholas Garland of The Telegraph are having a short exhibition in central London at the start of next month. It is being organised by art dealer John Rae-Smith.

Bloghorn spotted this great work this week …

One: Nicholas Garland in the Daily Telegraph on Robert Mugabe

Two: Matt Buck (aka Hack) at Channel 4 News on the ailing Pound

Two: Patrick Blower at Livedraw (note: video file) on Brown saving the world

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
Subscribe to The Foghorn – our print cartoon magazine

The clocks have fallen back, and subsequently the nights are drawing in, so as we race towards Christmas publishers are putting out books on cartooning. Here’s a selection of recent example that may be filling stockings come December.

First up is The History of the Beano: The Story so Far, a comprehensive round-up of the iconic DC Thompson comic from the last 70 years, here reviewed by the Daily Record and by Danny Baker in The Times. This book also ties in with the recent exhibitions in Dundee and the Cartoon Museum in London.

The History Of The Beano – The Story So Far is published by D.C. Thomson and Waverley Books, priced £25. The Beano and Dandy Birthday Bash continues at the The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH until 2nd November 2008.

Next is Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster on the life and times of the late Daily Express pocket cartoonist Osbert Lancaster, which is reviewed in the New Statesman, the Spectator and by cartoonist Nicholas Garland in the Telegraph. This book also ties into an exhibition at the Wallace Collection (reviewed in the Telegraph, the Guardian, and the Independent) .

Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster, edited by James Knox, is published by Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd, priced £25. The exhibition continues at The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN until 11th January 2009.

And finally we come to The Best of Punch Cartoon, a collection of cartoons from the legendary satirical magazine spanning over 150 years of humour, the launch of which was attended by the PCO’s own Pete Dredge. Reviewed here by cartoonist Peter Brookes of the Times, by Michael Heath, cartoon editor of the Spectator, and in the Independent.

The Best of Punch Cartoons, by Helen Walasek, is published by Prion Books, priced £30.

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent

Bloghorn spotted this great work this week …

One: Kipper Williams on the US banking system.

Two: Matt Pritchett in the Telegraph on recapitalising the banks in the UK

Three: a treat. Chris Burke from GQ on where politicians like to go for their lunch.

Week ending 17th October 2008

The PCO: British cartoon talent

A short film on how the creators of the Daily Telegraph’s “Alex” have reacted to the credit crunch, by the BBC’s Wendy Urquhart:
Cartoon takes on markets woe

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent

Bloghorn spotted this great work this week…

One: Matt in the Telegraph on trouble at the banks

Two: Martin Rowson in the Guardian on challenging Brown

And finally, the funny animal one … Three: Robert Thompson in The Spectator: “OK kids, bedtime!”

The PCO: British cartoon talent