Ranan Lurie 2009 cartoon winners – first place to Robert Ariail

My apologies for not being more timely.

The United Nations Correspondents Association and the UN Society of Writers and Artists announced the winners of the 2009 Ranan Lurie/UN Cartoon Awards earlier this month.  First place, and $10,000, went to Robert Ariail, cartooning in The State.

Ariail’s winner is a clever depiction of a commuter making the most of advertising for $4.00/gallon gasoline, becoming a bicycle commuter in the process.

Robert Ariail's First Place cartoon, 2009 Ranan Lurie UN Cartoon Award competition ($10,000)

Ariail's self-portrait -- he is without portfolio at the moment

Sad news, too typical for cartoonists these days — Ariail was laid off from The State before the award announcements.  You can see Ariail’s work at his website. (This may be a better copy of his award-winning cartoon.)

Hey!  Mr. Murdoch! Want to do some public service and promote your news organizations?  Hire Ariail, and some of the other laid-off cartoonists whose visual opinions we sorely need in these complex and too-somber times.  (Anyone else who owns a newspaper, or edits one, should consider doing a favor for cartooning and the public, too.)

Go check out the other cartoons, all the way through honorable mention.  There are some spectactular, funny, and stinging works there.  I’ll post a few of them as we near 2010, but you can look now.

Top three:

• First prize, $10,000 – Robert Ariail, The State (U.S.A.)
• Second prize, $5,000 – Silvan Wegmann, Sonntag (Switzerland)
• Third prize, $3,000 – Shlomo Cohen, Israel Hayom (Israel)

Citations for excellence:

• Guy Badeaux, Le Droit (Canada)
• Michael Kontouris, Eleftheros Tipos (Greece)
• Agim Sulaj, Romagna Corriere (Italy)
• David Pope, The Canberra Times (Australia)
• Zhu Zizun, Jiaxing Daily (China)
• Michael Keefe, The Denver Post (U.S.A.)
• Xiaoqiang Hou, Cartoon Weekly (China)
• Makhmud Eshonkulov, Himal (Republic of Nepal)
• Rex Babin, The Sacramento Bee (U.S.A.)
• Fruz Kutal, Amnesty International “Magasinet” (Norway)

Share these cartoons — keep cartoonists employed: