Chet Raymo Literary Series Welcomes Alison Bechdel to Stonehill
By Abby Newman
On Thursday, October 8th, author Alison Bechdel, 66, spoke on her graphic novel Fun Home
in McCarthy Auditorium for the annual Chet Raymo Literary Series at Stonehill College.
The literary series, established in 2001 and named in honor of former faculty member, Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, Chet Raymo, is sponsored by the Department of English. Each year, the series brings in well-known writers of poetry, fiction, or non-fiction to share their work, according to stonehill.edu.
Bechdel is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” awardee, Guggenheim fellow, and author of multiple best-selling graphic memoirs and novels including Fun Home, Dykes to Watch Out For, Are You My Mother? and Spent. Bechdel discussed the process behind writing her graphic novel Fun Home, coming out to her parents, and grappling with the suicide of her father.
“A useful concept that I learned after I came out to my parents and became more politically aware as a young person, it was a feminist slogan, personal, it was political. This idea that our private struggles are very often not private at all but are the result of larger societal courses. The system would rather that people feel like everything is their own damn fault,” Bechdel said.
Amra I. Brooks, Professor of English, and Curator of the Chet Raymo Literary Series, helped procure Bechdel as this year’s lecturer.
“I've been doing the series for 12 years, and I know that a lot of other folks have been teaching Alison Bechdel’s work for a long time, including myself. So, I reached out, thinking there was no way that she would accept the offer, and they did, so it was exciting."
Many students attended the literary series for various reasons.
Senior Bree Cole said, “During the lecture, I was hoping to hear a lot more about Fun Home and get the background of why she wrote it. It was really cool to hear her experience and hear about the writing process. She was a cool speaker, and I really enjoyed it.”
Senior Cecelia Moisan said, “I'm not going to lie, I literally just went because I want to see more queer representation on student campus, and I think it's important to patronize the things that you want to get things out of, but also I really love the musical “Fun Home” for a long time, and I was excited to see such an influential feminist on campus.”
Junior Juliana Dias said, “In general, I do really like coming to these lectures. I mean, like, as a reader, I like meeting authors. I like getting books signed. But I've also read Fun Home 3 times in college, and I'm also very familiar with the Bechdel test. So, out of all the authors that we've had here so far, I think this is the one I was the most excited for.”
After the lecture ended, there was an opportunity for guests to buy Bechdel’s novels at the back of the auditorium and get them signed by Bechdel, as well as a small faculty-alumni function in the admissions side of May Hall.
Stonehill Alum Courtney Riser '22 said, “I just thought it was really cool lecture. I think it's a great way to introduce young writers to a very well-established writer but also start talking about creating safe spaces on campus of diverse authors. I can speak to a bunch of different groups. It is wonderful and I'm glad Stonehill is offering that space for others.”
When asked why she likes to do book talks like the literary series, Bechdel said, “I know that it’s always helpful for me to hear other people talk about how they work, like whatever their art form is. I like to learn about their process. So, I kinda like to show them some bolts a bit, then usually that seems to interest people. So that's kind of the word. And I also just like being, I feel like it's sort of my public service to just be a big lesbian and stand up on stage."
Next year’s guest speaker for the literary series is still being determined, according to Professor Brooks.
“I can say that next year, we've invited Kaveh Akbar, whose best-selling novel Martyr! was a finalist for the National Book Award and it’s a New York Times bestseller. It was the debut novel by Iranian American poet Akbar. We’re really grateful to, the Dean of Arts and Sciences and to the provost for elevating and highlighting the importance of literature and creative writing on our campus,” said Brooks.
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