John Byrne

John M. Byrne, not to be confused with the Canadian comics artist John Byrne or the English comics artist John M. Burns, is a writer, cartoonist, performer and broadcaster from Dublin.

His cartoons feature regularly in a wide range of newspapers and magazines. He has also worked for the Christian Herald, Private Eye, the BBC’s in-house magazine Ariel, Voluntary Sector magazine and for many industry and trade magazines. His ‘live cartoons’ show - a combination of stand up comedy, art class and audience participation - has been performed at festivals, school and library and at corporate events all over the UK. He has also demonstrated cartooning on TV for the BBC, Nickelodeon and Channel 5.

He writes joke books, children's books, and books on professional creative development, including Drawing Cartoons that Sell, Learn to Draw Cartoons, Learn to Draw Comics, and Cartooning: The Best One-Stop Guide to Drawing Cartoons, Caricatures, Comic Strips, and Manga, as well as A Dancer's Guide to Getting Work and A Singer's Guide to Getting Work. He has taught creative skills at third level and adult educational institutions, including the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and The National Museum of Cartoon Art, and does private coaching work in the creative professions. He writes the "Dear John" advice column for The Stage newspaper and website.

For a time in the 1980s he was Communications Officer for UNICEF in Malawi.