Mario Barros, organizer of the Bostoon's Boston International Humor Festival, poses with cartoon submissions for the inaugural edition this September. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

Political cartoonists from around the globe have submitted drawings addressing the theme of "freedom" to organizers of the inaugural Bostoons Boston International Humor Festival.

Festival founder Mario Barros, a Cuban refugee and history teacher, said he has received more than 1,000 works ahead of Friday's deadline.

"We're getting them from all over, from Africa to Poland to the Middle East," the 56-year-old Barros told The Associated Press.

"It's been hard to keep up."

Barros edits the humour website El Bus de Lenguaviva (The Bus of Living Language), which features mostly Spanish-language material, but also publishes cartoon and photos submitted by artists hailing from different countries.

Inspired by a recent flood of political cartoon submissions, he decided to establish a humour festival — similar to the ones he remembered from Cuba — to showcase the works.

He specified two themes in his open call for original new cartoons or caricatures: freedom and Edward Kennedy, the latter as a tribute to the late Massachusetts senator.

The Bostoons Boston International Humor Festival will take place at Cambridge College from Sept. 9-12.

A panel of judges will choose 200 finalists, whose work will be displayed at the college.

The winner of the freedom category will receive $5,000 US, while the winner of the Edward Kennedy category will receive $3,000.

Barros is also running a humour-writing competition, open only to Spanish-language texts. The chosen text will be published on El Bus de Lenguaviva and its author will receive $1,500.

With files from The Associated Press