News & Blog

Cartoonist Eleri Harris Wins 2026 CBCA Award With Her First Picture Book

Support feridundemir.org

Independent coverage of cartoons, cartoonists and visual satire worldwide.

feridundemir.org 2 weeks ago

0 42 2 minutes read

Cartoonist Eleri Harris wins the 2026 CBCA New Illustrator Award for A Loo of One’s Own — Australian cartoonist Eleri Harris won the 2026 CBCA New Illustrator Award for A Loo of One’s Own.

Add feridundemir.org to your preferred sources on Google

Australian cartoonist Eleri Harris has won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2026 New Illustrator Award for A Loo of One’s Own, her first picture book and first work for children.

The award comes with an unusual twist. Harris is not new to drawing: she has worked as a cartoonist for 15 years and spent a decade as features editor at the US comics publication The Nib.

“It’s pretty funny to win New Illustrator when you’ve been a cartoonist for 15 years,” Harris told Canberra Daily, adding that the award was particularly meaningful because the book marked her first move into children’s publishing.

A Loo of One’s Own tells the story of a problem faced by Australia’s first women in Federal Parliament.

When Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney entered Parliament in 1943, there was no women’s toilet for MPs. Women were already working inside Parliament House as secretaries, stenographers, Hansard staff, dining-room workers and journalists, but facilities for them were limited.

Harris uses the episode to introduce younger readers to questions of inclusion and accessibility, while also telling a little-known story from Australian political history.

The book grew out of a presentation Harris prepared for children at Sydney Town Hall in 2024. Drawing on her experience as a tour guide for She Shapes History, she chose the Parliament House toilet story because she had seen how strongly it connected with younger audiences.

Afterwards, Harris showed the presentation to illustrator Erica Wagner, winner of the 2024 CBCA New Illustrator Award, and asked whether it might work as a picture book. Wagner sent it to Allen & Unwin, and the presentation eventually became A Loo of One’s Own.

The CBCA judges highlighted Harris’s line work, colour and composition. They noted the book’s Art Deco palette and its references to magazine cartoons and advertising from the period, alongside a more contemporary sense of humour.

The judges also pointed to the way Harris uses humour to approach subjects including patriarchy, political history and the practical consequences of buildings being designed without women in mind.

They drew a direct comparison with Australian cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, expressing the hope that Harris would continue bringing her observational humour to picture books in the future.

A Loo of One’s Own was recognised in a second category at this year’s awards. It was named an Honour Book in the 2026 Eve Pownall Award for information books.

Harris’s work extends well beyond children’s publishing. Her nonfiction comics have covered history, science and reportage, and have been published and exhibited internationally. Alongside her work at The Nib, she co-authored Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narrative with Shay Mirk.

The 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards were announced on August 21 at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.