Walch's strip is up and running
America's Next Great Cartoonist That's the title Olivia Walch '11 earned after winning a contest sponsored by washingtonpost.com this summer. Starting Aug. 30, Walch's work will appear in the paper for 30 consecutive days. From the Washington Post
Olivia Walch ’11, the William & Mary senior who won Washingtonpost.com's contest to determine “America’s Next Great Cartoonist” in July, made her debut in that newspaper today.
As part of her prize, the Fairfax Station, VA, resident will appear in the Post each day for 30 consecutive days. She also won $1,000.
During the week, her work will appear on page C2 of the paper's Style section. On Sundays, she'll appear in the Style snd Arts section.
Except for some minor editing, Walch has finished the entire month of offerings. All of the cartoons are stand-alone, though she said she tried to do a few theme weeks, where all of the cartoons had some connecting element.
“It sort of worked,” she said, “but I’m pretty sure they aren’t always easy to pick up on.”
She said the Post has placed no restrictions on the topics she addresses, “though I'm sure they'll give me some if I try anything too risque.”
A mathematics and biophysics major whose work has appeared in the campus paper The Flat Hat, Walch was doing research as part of her Murray Scholarship at Oxford when she first heard about the contest through her father.
More than 500 entries were quickly whittled down to 100, then 10, then five. Readers were invited to vote for their favorite.
“I'm positive that a huge part of me winning had to be all of the support from the W&M community,” Walch said. “There's no doubt in my mind that I owe William & Mary a giant thanks.”
