Posted on 05. Apr, 2015 by DWAMagpie in News

Political cartoonist and ‘living legend’ Merle Tingley to be inducted into Hall of Fame

April 5, 2015, Toronto, ON — The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning, which will be announced in a ceremony held at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival May 9, are proud to announce their finalists for 2015.

The nominees for the 2015 Doug Wright Award for Best Book are:

Ant Colony, by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)

Fatherland, by Nina Bunjevac (Jonathan Cape/Random House)

Safari Honeymoon, by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press)

The People Inside, by Ray Fawkes (Oni Press)

This One Summer, by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (Groundwood)

The nominees for the 2015 Doug Wright Spotlight Award (a.k.a. “The Nipper”) which recognizes Canadian cartoonists deserving of wider recognition are:

Aaron Costain, for Entropy #10

Elisabeth Belliveau for One Year in America (Conundrum Press)

Julie Delporte, for Everywhere Antennas (Drawn & Quarterly)

Meags Fitzgerald, for Photobooth: A Biography (Conundrum Press)

Simon Roy for Tiger Lung (Dark Horse)

Sophie Yanow, for War of Streets and Houses (Uncivilized Books)

And the nominees for the 2015 Pigskin Peters Award, which recognizes unconventional, experimental, or avant-garde Canadian comics are:

Comics Collection 2010-2013 and Less than Dust by Julien Ceccaldi

Great Success! 1983-2013 by Henriette Valium (Crna Hronika)

New Comics #3-5 by Patrick Kyle (Mother Books)

Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention by Tings Chak (The Architecture Observer)

“Swinespritzen” by Connor Willumsen

A feature event of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF), The Doug Wright Awards are pleased to announce this year’s inductee to the Giants of the North The Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame, will be long-time London Free Press editorial cartoonist Merle “Ting” Tingley.

Ting, 93, has won national and international awards for his art and is regarded by many as the dean of Canadian newspaper cartoonists.

Ting’s whimsical and distinctive cartoons about politics and society ran in the southern Ontario Free Press for nearly 40 years (1948 to 1986) and were syndicated across Canada in more than 60 newspapers.

His work is still known by many thanks to his signature cartoon mascot, “Luke Worm”, which he included in each of his cartoons creating a “look-and-find” game for many of his younger readers.

In 2014, the London Arts Project and cartoonist Diana Tamblyn launched The Ting Comic and Graphic Arts Festival dedicated to comics creators working in and around the southern Ontario city. The 2nd Annual Ting Festival runs at The Arts Project from April 21 to May 9, 2015.

The jury for the 11th Annual Doug Wright Awards will include cartoonist and teacher Fiona Smyth, cartoonist and past DWA nominee Zach Worton, and Conan Tobias Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Taddle Creek magazine.

The finalists for the 2015 Doug Wright Awards were chosen from a long list of more than 200 works and submissions published during the 2014 calendar year. This year’s nominating committee included Jerry Ciccoritti, Barbara Postema, Sean Rogers, Geneve Firanski and Chester Brown.

Media inquiries: dougwrightawards@gmail.com

For more information about the DWAs: www.dougwrightawards.com

About the Doug Wright Awards

Founded in 2004, The Doug Wright Awards recognize the best in English-language comics (or translations of French) by Canadian cartoonists. Now in their 11th year, the awards will be handed out at a ceremony at Toronto’s Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel on Saturday May 9, 2015 from 8:00 – 9:30 pm.

About The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

TCAF is The Toronto Comic Arts Festival. It is a week-long celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world. Other Festival events include readings, interviews, panels, workshops, gallery shows, art installations, and much more. Since 2009, TCAF has been held at Toronto Reference Library in Toronto, Canada, and presented by Toronto Public Library. For more information visit torontocomics.com.