Simmonds, Posy

Illustrator and cartoonist for the Guardian since the 1970s.

Rosemary Elizabeth (Posy) Simmonds was born in Berkshire in 1945. She was educated at Queen Anne's School, Caversham and went on to study art at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris and Central School of Art and Design, London.

From 1969 she worked for The Sun on a daily cartoon entitled 'Bear'. She first began work for the Guardian in 1972, initially producing illustrations for a range of articles. In 1977 she began her weekly comic strip 'The Silent Three' for the Guardian's Women's page which ran for 10 years.

From 1987 Posy Simmonds concentrated on writing and illustrating children's books although she still contributed some illustrations to the newspaper, and returned in 1992 with a weekly comic strip featuring J D Crouch which ran for a year. In the late 1990s she drew the 'Gemma Bovery' series for the paper which was published as a graphic novel in 1999. From November 2002 to December 2004 she worked on the 'Literary Life' series which appeared in the Saturday Review section of the Guardian, and from September 2005 - December 2006 on 'Tamara Drewe'.

In 2002 she was awarded an MBE for services to the newspaper industry.

From the guide to the Artwork of Posy Simmonds, 1977-2004, (Guardian News & Media Archive)