Edward Koren, well known for his cartoons, covers and illustrations for The New Yorker, will be honored Feb. 27 as Vermont's second cartoonist laureate. Burlington resident James Kochalka was the first.

A New York City native, Koren lives with his family in Brookfield, Vermont, where he has served as a volunteer firefighter for 24 years. Beyond his more than 1,000 cartoons for The New Yorker, he has contributed to such publications as The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, The Nation and Esquire. Koren has also illustrated numerous books.

“The great imaginative artists, comic or seriocomic (what other kinds are there?), are great at least in part because they create a world: Baldwin's Harlem, Faulkner's hamlet, Chekhov's dachas," The New Yorker Editor David Remnick said in a statement. "Ed Koren not only created a world — the Koren worlds are both urban and Vermontian, but all Koren — he also created creatures, part human, part fantastical, to represent and give voice to all of our anxieties, joys, and craziness. Long live Ed Koren, his world and his creatures!”

Following his recognition Feb. 27 on the floor of the State House, Koren will begin his three-year term with a public lecture at The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction. Vermont is the only state that appoints a cartoonist laureate.