Alison Bechdel Biography

Alison Bechdel is a cartoonist whose 2006 memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was a smash in the comics world as well as in the establishment literary world. A graduate of Oberlin College (1981), Bechdel began her career in New York City, working office jobs while publishing single-panel cartoons in feminist publications. Her strip Dykes to Watch Out For grew from random panels to a cast of characters, with national distribution to mostly feminist and lesbian press. Fun Home was her breakthrough, a graphic novel of self-discovery and Bechdel’s attempt at understanding her father. National publications listed it as one of the best books of the year, a triumph for a book of cartoons. After cranking out more Dykes to Watch For, Bechdel took a break to produce her second book, a graphic novel about her relationship with her mother, 2012’s Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama.