Merrily Harpur
Merrily Harpur | |
|---|---|
| Born | Merrily Jane Charlotte Harpur Buckinghamshire, England |
| Died | December 4, 2024 (aged 76) |
| Relatives |
|
| Website | merrilyharpur |
Merrily Jane Charlotte Harpur (2 April 1948 – 4 December 2024) was a British-Irish cartoonist, illustrator, artist and writer.
Early life and education
[edit]Merrily Jane Charlotte Harpur was born in Buckinghamshire. She had three younger brothers – Patrick, John and James – and they grew up in Surrey. Their father, Brian Harpur, had been born in Dublin but grown up in Timahoe;[1] their mother, Alicia (nee Myers), was from a Scottish/English family living in France.[2]
Merrily Harpur was educated at Headington School in Oxford.[3] From 1967 until 1971, she studied English Language and Literature at Trinity College Dublin.[4] For some time, she restored oil paintings in Herefordshire.[3][5]
Cartoonist and illustrator
[edit]In 1977, she moved to London and in the next year, she began drawing cartoons for the Guardian.[6] Since 1979, she drew cartoons for Miles Kington's sketch series Let's Parler Franglais which became a TV series in 1984.[3][7] Harpur also provided cartoons for Punch, the Sunday Telegraph, the Spectator, the Listener, Evening Standard, Daily Mail and the Times. Furthermore, she illustrated books by Kingsley Amis, Jill Tweedie, Miles Kington, Gerald Durrell, Michael Frayn, James Fenton, John Michell and Candida Lycett Green.
In 1987, she moved from London to Toormore near Schull (Ireland) and continued her work, sending cartoons via fax machine.[6]
Poet, artist and researcher of British big cats
[edit]In 1994, she moved to a cottage near Strokestown,[6] where she co-founded the Strokestown International Poetry Festival[4][8] which took place for the first time in 1999.[9]
Finally, in 2003, she moved to Cattistock, a village in Dorset, where she mostly painted in oil paintings of landscapes[4][10] and was active in the Dorset Art Weeks.[11][12] In 2006, she organised the first national conference on British big cats, a subject which she further investigated, held lectures and published two books about.[5][13] She also organised the ″Fox Festival″ in Cattistock and wrote the libretto for The Fox that Walked on Water.[5]
Awards
[edit]- 2004: K250 International Poetry Prize[4][5][clarification needed]
Works
[edit]Cartoon books
- The Nightmares of Dream Topping, 1985
- Unheard of Ambridge, 1987
- Pig Overboard, 1990
Non-fiction books
- Mystery Big Cats, 2006
- Roaring Dorset! Encounters with Big Cats, 2008
References
[edit]- ↑ Harpur, James (22 December 2024). "Merrily Harpur – painter, cartoonist, author and co-founder of the Strokestown International Poetry Festival". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- ↑ "Merrily Harpur". Bridport Life and Times. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Merrily Harpur". British Cartoon Archive – biographies. University of Kent. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Merrily Harpur: Obituary". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Merrily Harpur, cartoonist who lampooned townies with rural pretensions and researched big cat sightings". The Telegraph. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 Frances Emeleus (15 January 2025). "Merrily Harpur Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- ↑ Merrily Harpur at IMDb
- ↑ "Merrily Harpur – author and co-founder of the Strokestown International Poetry Festival". Strokestown International Poetry Festival. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ Merrily Harpur (11 January 2001). "How a small Irish town fixed its eyes on the prize". Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ↑ Harry Hogger (18 January 2017). "Artist Merrily Harpur showcases work inspired by local landscape at the Dorset County Museum". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ↑ "Merrily Harpur: Paintings & prints". merrilyharpur.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ "Merrily Harpur". Cattistock Community. 3 May 2026. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
- ↑ "Merrily Harpur: The Strange Topography of Big Cat Sightings [AUDIO] – Megalithomania 2007". YouTube. MegalithomaniaUK. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
External links
[edit]- 1948 births
- 2024 deaths
- 20th-century English illustrators
- 20th-century English women artists
- 20th-century Irish illustrators
- 20th-century Irish women artists
- 21st-century English non-fiction writers
- 21st-century English women non-fiction writers
- 21st-century Irish non-fiction writers
- 21st-century Irish women non-fiction writers
- Artists from Buckinghamshire
- Artists from Surrey
- British women cartoonists
- English cartoonists
- English people of Scottish descent
- English women illustrators
- Irish cartoonists
- Irish women cartoonists
- Irish women illustrators