Sean Leahy
Encyclopedia
Sean Leahy is an Australian cartoonist working for the Courier Mail
in Brisbane
, Australia. He draws political cartoons for the paper, and also his own comic strip
, Beyond the Black Stump
, which is distributed in Australia, the United States
and the United Kingdom
.
, making him the youngest political cartoonist in Australia at a metropolitan daily.
Leahy was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II
Jubilee Trust Award to study animation in the United States in 1982. When he was there, he spent time at Mike Jones Film Corporation in Minneapolis before returning to Perth
.
In 1983, he left The West Australian and joined The Daily Sun, then The Courier-Mail in Brisbane
.
In 2003, Beyond the Black Stump won both the Stanley Award
for Australia's Comic Strip Cartoonist of the Year and the Australia's Comic Strip of the Year at the Rotary National Cartoon Awards.
Time magazine
. His work has also been featured in The Australian
and The Bulletin
magazine.
Leahy's cartoons continue to appear in more than 150 publications throughout the world via the Cartoonist's and Writer's Syndicate in New York. Major papers such as The Times
and The International Herald-Tribune have printed his work.
Leahy traveled to the US and UK in 2004 for further study in animation as a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship.
Originals of his cartoons are included in private collections ranging from Steven Spielberg to the Vatican.
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia. He draws political cartoons for the paper, and also his own comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, Beyond the Black Stump
Beyond the Black Stump (Comic Strip)
Beyond the Black Stump is an Australian comic strip written by Sean Leahy. It won the "Best Comic Strip" at the 2003 National Coffs Harbour Cartoon Awards and the "Comic Strip Cartoonist of the Year" at the Australian Cartoonist's Association's Stanley Award the same year.The strip follows a cast...
, which is distributed in Australia, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Background
In 1974, Sean Leahy began his cartooning career on the suburban weekly The Darling Advertiser while still in high school. One year later, his cartoons became a common feature of The West AustralianThe West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
, making him the youngest political cartoonist in Australia at a metropolitan daily.
Leahy was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
Jubilee Trust Award to study animation in the United States in 1982. When he was there, he spent time at Mike Jones Film Corporation in Minneapolis before returning to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
In 1983, he left The West Australian and joined The Daily Sun, then The Courier-Mail in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
Beyond The Black Stump
Beginning in 1988, Leahy started the nationally-syndicated comic strip Beyond The Black Stump, which he writes and draws himself.In 2003, Beyond the Black Stump won both the Stanley Award
Stanley Award
Named after Stan Cross, the Stanley Awards, also known as The Stanleys are issued annually by the Australian Cartoonists' Association and recognise the best of Australian cartoonists and cartooning....
for Australia's Comic Strip Cartoonist of the Year and the Australia's Comic Strip of the Year at the Rotary National Cartoon Awards.
Achievements
From 1993 to 1994, he was a regular cartoonist for the Australian edition ofTime magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
. His work has also been featured in The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
and The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
magazine.
Leahy's cartoons continue to appear in more than 150 publications throughout the world via the Cartoonist's and Writer's Syndicate in New York. Major papers such as The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and The International Herald-Tribune have printed his work.
Leahy traveled to the US and UK in 2004 for further study in animation as a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship.
Originals of his cartoons are included in private collections ranging from Steven Spielberg to the Vatican.