Martin George Edmund Rowson (born 15 February 1959) is a British cartoonist and novelist. His genre is political satire and his style is scathing and graphic. His work frequently appears in The Guardian and The Independent. He also contributes freelance cartoons to other publications, such as The Daily Mirror and the Morning Star.
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Rowson was educated at the independent Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood in north-west London, followed by Pembroke College at Cambridge where he read English Literature.
Rowson has had a number of books published, including graphic adaptations of The Waste Land and Tristram Shandy. He has also turned his hand to prose, writing a novel called Snatches, published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape in the spring of 2006 (ISBN 0-224-07604-3). It is a comic journey through history, focusing on the "stories of the worst decisions the human race has ever made". His 2007 novel, Stuff, is part autobiography, part history of his family and upbringing. In 2008 he published The Dog Allusion: Gods, Pets and How to Be Human, arguing that religion is a complete waste of time and money — much like keeping pets. (The title is itself an allusion to the Richard Dawkins book The God Delusion.)
Rowson was appointed "Cartoonist Laureate" of London when Ken Livingstone was Mayor, and his cartoons appeared in the Mayor's newsletter, The Londoner. In 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Journalism from the University of Westminster. He is also an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
Rowson was adopted as a child.[1] He is married and has two children. Who's Who lists his interests as "cooking, drinking, ranting, atheism, zoos, collecting taxidermy".[2]
He is also a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association.[3]
On 15 September 2010, Rowson, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[4]