Andy Coughlan is a native of Brighton, England and has lived in Southeast Texas for almost 40 years. He teaches classes as diverse as photojournalism, news and feature writing, and editorial cartooning, and has also taught English.

After beginning his career as a graphic designer, Coughlan moved to newspapers and has been at the University Press for 30 years. He is an award-winning writer, photographer and blogger. He was the editor of ISSUE, an award-winning monthly arts magazine, for 18 years, and is now an arts and theatre contributor to The Beaumont Enterprise, for which he has won numerous national and state awards.

He has been an editorial cartoonist for 35 years, first at the Port Arthur News and for the past 20 years at the Beaumont Enterprise. He is president of the Press Club of Southeast Texas.

An accomplished visual artist and illustrator, Coughlan has exhibited widely, including eight solo exhibitions, as well as multiple group shows, including numerous juried awards.

A keen actor and director, Coughlan has written several short plays, including the award-winning “A Single Drop,” and published “Rottens, Chatterboxes and Mayors,” a book of three short Spanish Golden Age scripts translated into English with LU Spanish professor Catalina Castillón.

Other playwriting projects include a full-length adaptation of “Don Juan.” Directing credits include “It’s a Wonderful Life: A 1940s Radio Play,” Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” and “Father Knows Best.”

Acting credits include MacDuff and Porter in separate productions of “Macbeth,” Jeffery in, “The Sister’s Rosensweig” (Sallye Award for best-supporting actor), Froggy in “The Foreigner” and Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady” (best actor award). Coughlan works closely with the non-profit Divergent Theater which seeks to promote original works and also women’s plays.

He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Coughlan is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Phi Beta Delta International Scholars Society and The Press Club of Southeast Texas.