Pulitzer Prize winner Feiffer visits West campus

Jules Feiffer, an award-winning cartoonist best known for his witty, revealing commentaries on American life, will present "A Discussion with Feiffer: The Art of Social Commentary on Stage, Film and Paper" at Arizona State University's West campus on Wednesday, November 29, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm, UCB 265.

His appearance is free and open to the public and is presented by Barrett, the Honors College at ASU.

Feiffer is a prolific artist and author whose cartoons for the Village Voice were nationally syndicated for 25 years. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons, an Academy Award for a short animated cartoon satire, and an Obie and two Outer Critics Circle Awards for his plays.

Before ending his comic strip in 2000, he found success as an author and illustrator of children's books – an endeavor that has built steam and introduced a new audience to his work.

Feiffer turned anxiety and guilt into humor, and set a precedent with his political, social and sexual satire. His trademark cartoon style, widely imitated by younger generations of political cartoonists, features sparely drawn, neurotic characters, appearing against blank backgrounds, emoting or agonizing over news events and personal problems.

His cartoon collections include “Feiffer on Nixon: The Cartoon Presidency” (1974) and “Ronald Reagan in Movie America: A Jules Feiffer Production” (1988).

Feiffer's plays show the same talent for social satire and commentary. His 1967 play “Little Murders,” a brutal black comedy that examines one New York family's encounters with random violence, won a number of prestigious awards and was also adapted to film. Other plays include the Obie-winning “White House Murder Case,” in addition to “Carnal Knowledge,” which also was turned into a motion picture.

“The Man in the Ceiling” was Feiffer's first book for children. Highly praised in the New York Times and elsewhere, it was selected by Publishers Weekly and the New York Public Library as one of the best children's books of 1993. Since then he has written nine others, including “Bark, George,” “I Lost My Bear,” and “A Room With a Zoo.”