Zoe Si says she was ‘shocked and in disbelief’ when she heard her name among Pulitzer Prize nominees for Editorial Cartoons
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Two years into a new career, Zoe Si’s tongue-in-cheek observations of life during the pandemic, beautifully illustrated in one-panel cartoons, have earned her some of journalism’s best plaudits.
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Si said it was surreal to be named one of three finalists for a Pulitzer Prize for her editorial cartoons for The New Yorker magazine, in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category which was won by New York Insider.
“I was in shock and in disbelief,” the 31-year-old Vancouver lawyer-turned-cartoonist said after hearing her name called during the ceremony, which was live-streamed last week. “It’s really cool that they’re moving in a direction that would allow someone like me — someone who cares about the things I care about — to have that seat at the table.”
As a child of immigrants, Si had to go to college and pursue a profession. She earned a law degree at the University of British Columbia and focused on family law after graduating in 2013.
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On the side, however, she pursues a childhood dream of illustrating and drawing.
“It’s always been a pipe dream,” she said.
During her freshman year of law school, Si made a commitment to create one piece of art a day. She posted her work on Instagram, steadily gaining a following.
In 2016, she got her first book contract to illustrate a children’s book. A fan of comic books, she also started doodling cartoons based on her life as a lawyer.
His first cartoon submissions to The New Yorker, mailed in 2015, were rejected. She submitted a handful more, and then in 2019, the magazine resumed her work.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, she decided to quit law and, with the encouragement of her husband Kevin Regamey, pursue her passion full-time. The couple tied the knot during a pandemic-induced runaway days after Si’s last day of work.
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Si didn’t intend to be an editorial cartoonist, but because of current events, some of her funny things have become social commentary on life under the Donald Trump administration and the pandemic.
Mindful of her platform, Si has made it a point to have inclusive characters in her work.
“Even a cartoon about a silly thing, I’ll try to have a same-sex couple or people of color,” she said. “I want to try to normalize POCs and make them visible, and this is one way for me to try to do that.”
the Pulitzer Prize website describes Si’s work this way: “Cartoons that use simply drawn figures, inclusive representation and well-observed punchlines to capture political realities and daily life during the pandemic, inviting reflection and empathy .”
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Si, who was nominated by her editors, said she was grateful and still incredulous “that the things that I find fun and important are also viewed that way by the jury, and probably by more people than I think”.
And she has more plans for the future.
Her ninth illustrated children’s book comes out in June, and another will be published in the fall. She would like to write a children’s book and a graphic novel. And she plans to continue drawing cartoons for The New Yorker and honing her craft.
“There’s value in silly, timeless humorous cartoons – it’s a skill in itself to do this sort of thing,” she said. “And it’s also a skill to do current events and talk about difficult topics.
“I have a long way to go to learn all these things.”
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