{{Short description|Cartoon editor}} '''Emma Allen''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|34|2022|07|20|noage=y}}) is a cartoon editor for ''The New Yorker''. When she was hired for the role in 2017 at the age of 29, she became the youngest and first female cartoon editor in the magazine's history.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-07-20 |title=What makes a good cartoon? The New Yorker's youngest cartoon editor shares what she looks for - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/emma-allen-new-yorker-good-cartoon/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Cavna |first=Michael |date=2021-10-06 |title=Emma Allen is redefining what a New Yorker cartoon can be |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/10/05/emma-allen-new-yorker-cartoon-editor/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> She is known for selecting new and diverse humor contributors for the magazine. Editor David Remnick called her "a godsend to ''The New Yorker''."<ref name=":5" />
== Early life == Allen grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attended the private all-girls school Brearley.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Yorker Cartoon Editor Emma Allen’s School Days Influences – The Elective |url=https://elective.collegeboard.org/school-days-influences-desk-new-yorker-cartoon-editor |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=elective.collegeboard.org |language=en}}</ref> Her mother worked as a partner in a corporate law firm.<ref name=":5" /> As a child, she wanted to be a medieval historian because she believed it would allow her to "hang out with dragons."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=She got her start by giving bad advice |url=https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4590-emma-allen |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=yalealumnimagazine.org |language=en}}</ref> She cut out ''New Yorker'' cartoons and kept them in a green folder.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Wolper |first=Caitlin |date=2018-01-22 |title=30 Under 30, Class of '18: Emma Allen, The New Yorker's Cartoon Editor |url=https://www.bkmag.com/2018/01/22/30-under-30-emma-allen/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Brooklyn Magazine}}</ref>
== Career == She chose to attend Yale University in part because she liked ''Gilmore Girls''. In college, her bad luck earned her the nickname "Queen of Catastrophe."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Goldstein |first=Andrew |date=2017-08-28 |title=New Yorker Cartoon Editor Emma Allen on How to Be Funny in the Age of Instagram, VR, and Donald Trump |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/emma-allen-new-yorker-cartoon-editor-interview-1062536 |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref> She studied English and Studio Art with coursework in photography.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> She wrote a column in the ''Yale Daily News'' called "The Unethicist", in which she wrote tongue-in-cheek bad advice such as "Why You Shouldn't Recycle" and "Why You Should Live Your Life Exactly Modeled on Television Shows."<ref name=":1" /> Her senior thesis was a series of collages that included "family photographs, Polaroids, and crappy photos I'd taken of my friends...obscure books, manuals, and catalogs of dolls."<ref name=":3" />
After college, she worked as a bookseller at McNally Jackson in SoHo and as a freelance writer covering art.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-12-15 |title='Work of Art' Recap, Episode 9: Reality Goes Upstate |url=https://observer.com/2011/12/work-of-art-episode-9-12152011/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Observer |language=en-US}}</ref> Her first position at ''The New Yorker'' was as assistant to editor Susan Morrison, working on pieces in the "Talk of the Town" section. She also started edited Daily Shouts, ''The New Yorker'' humor section, which published one or two humor pieces a day online.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Editorial |first=Artsy |date=2017-08-28 |title=Meet Emma Allen, the 29-Year-Old Woman Deciding the Future of the New York Cartoon |url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-meet-young-woman-deciding-future-new-yorker-cartoon |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Artsy |language=en}}</ref> She had friends working as stand-up comics and writing for late-night shows, and she caught the attention of editor David Remnick for her ability to draw in fresh humor writers.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
In 2017, she became the youngest and first female cartoon editor for the magazine. Allen says that when Bob Mankoff passed on the role of cartoon editor to her, he gave her the following advice: "You pick what's funny. And you get rid of what's not funny. And fundamentally, that is all there is to it."<ref name=":0" /> Allen has stated that she would be unable to create rules of ''New Yorker'' cartoon humor because "the funniest [cartoons] defy the rules."<ref name=":3" /> She has built a reputation for selecting cartoons from a large, diverse group of cartoonists,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-05 |title=The New (Diverse) Yorker Starts With Emma Allen - The Daily Cartoonist |url=https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2021/10/05/the-new-diverse-yorker-starts-with-emma-allen/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=www.dailycartoonist.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and she told ''Washington Post'' that she has tried to publish humor that reflects "the incredibly vast world of comedy I was seeing at clubs and on TikTok."<ref name=":5" /> She has published more female cartoonists than previous editors. As of 2021, she has selected about 100 cartoonists, of which half were women, to publish work in ''The New Yorker'' for the first time.<ref name=":5" />
Allen intentionally chooses a variety of highbrow and lowbrow humor.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Zinoman |first=Jason |date=2017-07-02 |title=At The New Yorker, the Cartoonists Draw, but the Vision Is Hers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/books/new-yorker-cartoon-editor.html |access-date=2023-11-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In her current role, she edits the daily cartoons, written and drawn ''Daily Shouts'', Blitt’s Kvetchbook, and humor videos for ''The New Yorker'' website.<ref name=":2" /> Each week, the magazine gets about a thousand submissions, of which she selects about sixty to present to David Remnick, who selects about fifteen.<ref name=":3" />
== Personal life == Allen lives in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.<ref name=":4" /> She has a cat named Dante.<ref>{{Cite web |title="The New Yorker" Cartoon Editor Emma Allen on Her Bloodthirsty Cat |url=https://www.thewildest.com/pet-lifestyle/emma-allen |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=www.thewildest.com |language=en}}</ref> She took an improv class and described it as "pure hell" because she dislikes performing.<ref name=":4" />
In 2021, she married Alex Allenchey, an art gallery associate director.<ref name=":5" /> She enjoys the observational humor of Lillian Ross and E.B. White.<ref name=":3" />
== Bibliography == {{Incomplete list |date=October 2025}} {{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
* {{cite journal |author=Allen, Emma |author-mask= |date=May 27, 2024 |title=[Untitled column] |department=Goings On. Pick Three |journal=The New Yorker |volume=100 |issue=14 |pages=7 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/goings-on/richard-brody-on-hong-sangsoos-stories-of-artists-in-crisis <!--|access-date=2025-09-16-->}}<ref group=lower-alpha>Note change in Department title from 'Goings on About Town' to 'Goings On. About Town', with further sub-divisions for event categories.</ref><ref name="Culture. Goings On" group=lower-alpha>Online version forms part of a larger "Culture. Goings On" article on the newyorker.com site.</ref> ——————— ;Bibliography notes {{reflist|40em|group=lower-alpha}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Emma}} Category:American editors Category:Yale University alumni Category:Brearley School alumni Category:Living people Category:1980s births