On March 4, the Office of Student Engagement hosted Alison Bechdel, a cartoonist best known for her comic strips “Dykes to Watch Out For” and for her graphic memoir “Fun Home,” at John M. Greene Hall for a keynote talk, moderated discussion and book signing.
The event, which drew more than a thousand attendees, was free and open to the public. Attendees ranged from Smith and other Five College students to older Bechdel fans from the Pioneer Valley which added laughter and a book-signing line stretching to the back of the building.
Bailey Butterworth ’24 planned this event to revive the tradition of hosting student-organized large events after the pandemic. “I started in November by reaching out to [Bechdel’s] agency and talking about the possibility of this happening,” they said. Butterworth then reached out to various people and departments across campus to put the remaining pieces together, from catering the reception to booking John M. Greene Hall.
Bechdel began preparing her talk a couple of weeks before the event and was inspired by reading the newspaper. “It all seeped in and informed what I decided to write about, which is how important it is to be honest in a crisis of people not knowing what is true anymore,” Bechdel said. She used this theme throughout her keynote speech by connecting her works to the political turmoil that occurred when they were published and to the current resurgence of anti-LGBTQ legislation, specifically in terms of education.
Bechdel also projected images from her works throughout the talk to highlight the points she made, garnering some extra laughs. She said, “It’s always exciting to me when I can connect to the people who know my work, because as a writer you don’t get to see people responding to it.”
The keynote was followed by a discussion moderated by the college archivist, Nanci Young, who dove deep into Bechdel’s past and present work. To prepare for the discussion, Young said, “I looked through her papers, I did a lot of internet research, and I’ve watched some videos she produced specifically related to her most recent book.”
Butterworth wanted Young to facilitate because they thought it would be impactful to have two butch-leaning lesbians on the stage. Along with this, they said, “I thought that Nanci’s expertise was relevant, especially because Alison has such a deep connection with archiving and just them being of a similar generation appealed to me.”
The event concluded with a book signing where audience members lined up to get their copy signed and say a word to the author. Young said, “I was super impressed with her generosity and openness with meeting students, and I think this generosity showed later with this long line of students who wanted to get their books signed by her.” Bechdel asked the staff to continue permitting attendees to walk on the stage to ensure as many people got their books signed as possible.
Even though the event is over and Bechdel has left campus, students and the public can continue to connect with her and her work by visiting the exhibition of some of her archival materials on the third floor of Neilson Library or by leafing through her papers in the Special Collections themselves.
The event and subsequent exhibit (which is open for the rest of the semester) exposed many people to Bechdel’s work and the college archives as a whole. The audience seemed to take away what Bechdel wanted them to, as she said, “I hope they have a little fun and find it better than sitting home alone.”
