Alison Bechdel

Infobox Writer

---

imagesize = 200px
name = Alison Bechdel
caption =Alison Bechdel at a London signing for "Fun Home", 2006
birthdate = birth date and age|1960|9|10|mf=y
birthplace = Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = cartoonist, author
nationality = American
period =
genre = autobiography, social commentary
subject =
movement = underground
notableworks = Dykes To Watch Out For, Fun Home
influences = R. Crumb, "Mad", Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, Hergé, Howard Cruse, Roberta Gregory [Citation
last = Emmert
first = Lynn
date = April 2007
title= Life Drawing
periodical=The Comics Journal
publication-place=Seattle, Washington
publisher=Fantagraphics Books
issue=282
pages=pp. 50—51]
influenced = Ellen Forney [cite web|url=http://www.ellenforney.com/blog/2007/05/24/happy-birthday-mom/|title=HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom!!!!!|accessdate=2007-08-07|last=Forney|first=Ellen|authorlink=Ellen Forney|date=2007-05-24|work=blog] , Paige Braddock [cite web|url=http://www.gayleague.com/gay/creators/paigebraddock.php|title=Gay Creators: Paige Braddock|accessdate=2007-08-07|last=Braddock|first=Paige|authorlink=Paige Braddock|work=Gay League]


website = http://www.dykestowatchoutfor.com

Alison Bechdel (born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip "Dykes To Watch Out For", in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her autobiographical graphic memoir "Fun Home".

Biography

Alison Bechdel was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to Roman Catholic parents who were teachers; her family also owned and operated a funeral home. In 1981 she graduated from Oberlin College, having transferred from Simon's Rock College, and moved to New York City. She applied to many art schools but was rejected and worked in a number of office jobs in the publishing industry.

According to "The Indelible Alison Bechdel" (see "Books", below), she began "Dykes to Watch Out For" as a single drawing labeled "Marianne, dissatisfied with the morning brew: Dykes to Watch Out For, plate no. 27". An acquaintance recommended she send her work to "Womannews" newspaper, which began to publish the strip regularly beginning with the July—August 1983 issue. After a year, other outlets began running the strip.

In the first years, "Dykes to Watch Out For" consisted of unconnected strips without a regular cast or serialized storyline. Bechdel introduced her regular characters, Mo and her friends, in 1987 while living in St. Paul, Minnesota. She became a full-time cartoonist in 1990 and later moved near Burlington, Vermont.

In addition to "Dykes to Watch Out For", Bechdel has also written and drawn autobiographical strips and has done illustrations for magazines and websites. In 1988, she began a short-lived page-length strip about the staff of a queer newspaper, titled "Servants to the Cause", for "The Advocate".

In February 2004, Bechdel married her partner since 1992, Amy Rubin, in a civil ceremony in San Francisco. However, all same-sex marriage licenses given by the city at that time were subsequently voided by the California Supreme Court. Bechdel and Rubin separated in 2006. [cite news|first=Oliver|last=Burkeman|title=A life stripped bare|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1923213,00.html|format=free registration required|work=The Guardian|date=2006-10-16|accessdate=2007-01-22 ]

In November 2006 Bechdel was invited to sit on the Usage Panel of the "American Heritage Dictionary".

Bechdel's brother is keyboard player John Bechdel, who has worked with many bands including Ministry.

"Fun Home"

In 2006, Bechdel published "Fun Home", an autobiographical "tragicomic" chronicling her childhood and the years before and after her father's death. "Fun Home" has received more widespread mainstream attention than Bechdel's earlier work, with reviews in "Entertainment Weekly", "People" and several features in "The New York Times". "Fun Home" spent two weeks on the "New York Times"' Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list. [cite news|title=Hardcover Nonfiction|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/books/bestseller/0709besthardnonfiction.html?ex=1155096000&en=aaca93d5bcae9024&ei=5070|work=New York Times|date=2006-07-09|accessdate=2006-12-18 ] [cite news|title=Hardcover Nonfiction|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/books/bestseller/0716besthardnonfiction.html?ex=1155096000&en=516fbdccced8ce0c&ei=5070|work=New York Times|date=2006-07-16|accessdate=2006-12-18 ]

"Fun Home" has been hailed as one of the best books of 2006 by numerous sources, including "The New York Times", [cite news|title=100 Notable Books of the Year|url=http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/review/20061203notable-books.html?ref=books|work=Sunday Book Review|publisher=New York Times|date=2006-12-03|accessdate=2006-12-12 ] amazon.com, [cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ref%5F=amb%5Flink%5F3914172%5F1&docId=1000024441&plpage=2|title=Best Books of 2006: Editors' Top 50|accessdate=2006-12-18|work=amazon.com ] [cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/1000020751/|title=Best of 2006 Top 10 Editors' Picks: Memoirs|accessdate=2006-12-18|work=amazon.com ] "The Times" of London, [cite news|first=Tom|last=Gatti|title=The 10 best books of 2006: number 10—Fun Home|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-2504697,00.html|work=The Times|date=2006-12-16|accessdate=2006-12-18 ] "Publishers Weekly", [cite news|title=The First Annual PW Comics Week Critic's Poll|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6401289.html?nid=2789|work=Publishers Weekly Online|publisher=Publishers Weekly|date=2006-12-19|accessdate=2006-12-19 ] , salon.com, [cite news | first = Laura| last = Miller| coauthors = Hillary Frey| title = Best debuts of 2006| url = http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2006/12/12/debut/| work = salon.com| date = 2006-12-12| accessdate = 2006-12-12] "New York" magazine, [cite news | first = Christopher| last = Bonanos| coauthors =Logan Hill, Jim Holt "et al."| title = The Year in Books| url = http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2006/25308/| work = New York| date = 2006-12-18 cover date| accessdate = 2006-12-12] and "Entertainment Weekly". [cite news | first = Christopher| last = Bonanos| coauthors =Logan Hill, Jim Holt "et al."| title = The Year in Books| url = http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2006/25308/| work = New York| date = 2006-12-18 cover date| accessdate = 2006-12-12]

"Time" magazine named Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" number one of its "10 Best Books of the Year." Lev Grossman and Richard LeCayo described "Fun Home" as " [t] he unlikeliest literary success of 2006," and called it "a stunning memoir about a girl growing up in a small town with her cryptic, perfectionist dad and slowly realizing that a) she is gay and b) he is too. ... Bechdel's breathtakingly smart commentary duets with eloquent line drawings. Forget genre and sexual orientation: this is a masterpiece about two people who live in the same house but different worlds, and their mysterious debts to each other." [cite news|first=Lev|last=Grossman|authorlink=Lev Grossman|coauthors=Richard Lacayo|title=10 Best Books|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570801,00.html|work= Time|date=2006-12-17|accessdate=2006-12-18 ]

"Fun Home" was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award, in the memoir/autobiography category. [cite news|first=Josh|last=Getlin|title=Book Critics Circle nominees declared|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-books21jan21,1,7580597.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2007-01-21|accessdate=2007-01-22 ] [cite web|url=http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=finalists|title=NBCC Awards Finalists|accessdate=2007-01-22|work=National Book Critics Circle website ] It also won the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work; [cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07win.shtml|title=The 2007 Eisner Awards: Winners List|accessdate=2007-07-31|work=San Diego Comic-Con website ] "Fun Home" was also nominated for the Best Graphic Album award, and Bechdel was nominated for Best Writer/Artist. [cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07nom.shtml#nomlist|title=The 2007 Eisner Awards: 2007 Master Nominations List|accessdate=2007-07-31|work=San Diego Comic-Con website ]

Future

"Dykes to Watch Out For" was suspended in 2008 so that Bechdel can work on another graphic memoir, with the working title "Love Life: A Case Study". [cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6417353.html|title=Houghton's Next Bechdel Graphic Memoir|accessdate=2007-08-14|last=Thornton|first=Matthew|date=2007-02-19|work=Publishers Weekly ] This will focus on Bechdel's relationships; Bechdel describes its themes as "the self, subjectivity, desire, the nature of reality, that sort of thing". [cite web|url=http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/stray-questions-for-alison-bechdel/|title=Stray Questions for: Alison Bechdel|accessdate=2007-08-14|last=Garner|first=Dwight|date=2007-07-20|format=blog|work=Paper Cuts|publisher=New York Times ]

Bibliography

Collections
* "Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1986, ISBN 0-932379-17-6)
* "More Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1988, ISBN 0-932379-45-1)
* "New, Improved! Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1990, ISBN 0-932379-79-6)
* "Dykes to Watch Out For: The Sequel" (Firebrand Books, 1992, ISBN 1-56341-008-7)
* "Spawn of Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1993, ISBN 1-56341-039-7)
* "Unnatural Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1995, ISBN 1-56341-067-2)
* "Split-Level Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1998, ISBN 1-56341-102-4)
* "Hot, Throbbing Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1997, ISBN 1-56341-086-9)
* "The Indelible Alison Bechdel: Confessions, Comix, and Miscellaneous Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 1998)
* "Post-Dykes to Watch Out For" (Firebrand Books, 2000, ISBN 1-56341-122-9)
* "Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life-Forms to Watch Out For" (Alyson Publications, 2003, ISBN 1-55583-828-6)
* "Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For" (Alyson Publications, 2005, ISBN 1-55583-833-2)

Graphic Memoir
* "" (Houghton Mifflin, 2006, ISBN 0-618-47794-2)

Stories
* "Oppressed Minority Cartoonist" and "The Party" in "Juicy Mother" edited by Jennifer Camper, Soft Skull Press, 2005 ISBN 1-932360-70-0
* "A Perfect Match" in "Juicy Mother 2: How They Met", edited by Jennifer Camper, Manic D Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-933149-20-2)

References

ee also

* Women in comics

External links

* [http://www.dykestowatchoutfor.com Official website]

Persondata
NAME= Bechdel, Alison
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American cartoonist, author
DATE OF BIRTH= September 10, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH= Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=