Liza Donnelly

Welcome Liza Donnelly to The Morgan Library & Museum Stage!

Liza Donnelly is a writer and cartoonist for The New Yorker Magazine, where she has been drawing cartoons and writing about culture and politics for forty years. She has been a contributor to CBS News and CNN, creating political cartoons and animation, as well as live-drawing special cultural and political events. Donnelly writes and draws for The New York Times and CNN Opinion pages, The Washington Post, Medium. She publishes a daily newsletter of writing and drawings called Seeing Things on Substack.

Donnelly’s TED talk was translated into 42 languages and viewed over 1.5 million times.

Donnelly was the first cartoonist to be granted access on location to live draw the Academy Awards. Both on location and remotely, she covered the DNC, Inauguration, presidential debates, State of The Union, Trump trials, election returns, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Grammys, the BET Awards, the Tonys.

Donnelly is the author/editor of eighteen books for adults and children, most notably Very Funny Ladies, a history of women cartoonists of The New Yorker.

Donnelly is currently producing and directing a documentary called Women Laughing, based on her book Very Funny Ladies, to premier in 2025.

🎵 Performance by Gabbie McGee

With two independent albums (Certified Soul, Mississippi's Daughter) under her belt, BMI Independent Songwriters Recognition for her song Mississippi's Daughter, The 2014 Belk Modern Southern Music Award, the 2014 Mississippi Arts Council Artist of the Year Award, and featured appearances in the 2015 Emmy Award-winning HBO feature film Bessie and the 2016 Academy Award-nominated Hidden Figures, Gabbie McGee is rapidly becoming a recognizable face and name in the entertainment industry. Known for her powerful vocals and heart-gripping lyrics, Gabbie has also made her mark behind the scenes as a music composer, contributing original music to Season 6 of TV ONEs Rickey Smiley For Real and writing, producing, and performing the theme song Turn on the Lights for the 2020 remake of Avenging Angels, directed by Ilunga Adell.

In 2025, Gabbie is piloting her latest venture, Jazz Lives in the Library, an innovative cultural preservation and education initiative designed to celebrate the legacy of jazz through live performance, literacy, and community engagement.