Michael Cavna is an American writer, artist and cartoonist. He is creator of the "Comic Riffs" column for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. His column has received more than a dozen national awards from the Society for Features Journalism, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.

Career

He graduated from

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. His "Wise Up" cartoon launched the viral #

Draw4Atena Atena Farghadani ( fa, آتنا فرقدانی; born 29 January 1987) is an Iranian artist and political activist, who was imprisoned for 18 months. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience. She was released on 3 May 2016. ...

campaign in 2015 on behalf of jailed Iranian artist

Atena Farghadani Atena Farghadani ( fa, آتنا فرقدانی; born 29 January 1987) is an Iranian artist and political activist, who was imprisoned for 18 months. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience. She was released on 3 May 2016. ...

. Cavna wrote the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

-nominated journalism profile for the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

-nominated book ''Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's''. He was the emcee and co-programmer of the first-ever "Graphic Novel Night" Pavilion at the Library of Congress's

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is a literary festival in the United States organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 1995 the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former l ...

. In February 2015, Cavna began a cartoon that was updated monthly to mark the 545-day detention of American-Iranian journalist

Jason Rezaian Jason Rezaian ( fa, جیسون رضائیان; born on March 16, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran news bureau, bureau chief for ''The Washington Post''. He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2 ...

of The Washington Post; the

National Press Club (United States) The National Press Club is a professional organization and social community in Washington, D.C. for journalists and communications professionals. It hosts public and private gatherings with invited speakers from public life. The club also offers e ...

used the cartoon to raise awareness about Rezaian's case.

Awards

In April 2016, his "Comic Riffs" column was an

finalist for journalism. In April 2017, his "Comic Riffs" columns received a

National Headliner Award National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

for lifestyle writing. In May 2017, "Comic Riffs" received a second

nomination for journalism. In October 2017, Cavna shared his personal "Peanuts" history in the

-winning book ''Celebrating Snoopy.'' In April 2018, Cavna, with narrator/animator Tom Racine, won the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

for his audio/visual storytelling for "For Art's Sake." In April 2019, his "Comic Riffs" column portfolio of arts writing and illustration received a second

. In June 2020, his "Comic Riffs" received a third

nomination for journalism. In 2021, Cavna’s cultural coverage received a third National Headliner Award.

References

External links

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/michael-cavna/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavna, Michael Living people American cartoonists American male journalists American art critics Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) The Washington Post people University of California, San Diego alumni