Alison Bechdel

Talk Description

Alison Bechdel will talk about why and how she tells stories visually, with plenty of images of her work and process, discussing how her comics work has changed over the course of her career. Graphic narrative has been moving toward mainstream acceptance in much the same way that gay and lesbian narratives have, and her work occupies a peculiar intersection of these developments. Bechdel will explore why graphic narrative is such a peculiarly conducive format for autobiography.

Biography

Alison Bechdel has been cartooning since 1983. Her graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic has been called a “mesmerizing feat of familial resurrection” and a “rare, prime example of why graphic novels have taken over the conversation about American literature,” and was named Book of the Year by Time Magazine. For twenty-five years, Bechdel created the genre- and gender-defying comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. Her work has been published in Ms., Granta, Entertainment Weekly, and the New York Times Book Review. She lives near Burlington, Vermont, and was working on another graphic memoir.