Row after row of chairs were brought out to accommodate all the fans packed into room 129 in the HUB-Robeson Center to hear graphic novelist Allison Bechdel.
Bechdel, author of long-running comic strip "Dykes to Watch out For" and the graphic novel "Fun Home," gave an extremely personal presentation revealing everything from what inspired her to begin writing comics in the first place to where she sees her work going in the future.
Bechdel began by revealing a few memoirs from her more unsuccessful days as a writer.
"If you can't see, this is my rejection letter from the Art Institute of Chicago," she said, gesturing to an image of the letter projected at the front of the room.
The author also revealed that her writings weren't originally meant to be so public.
"I just drew these comics for fun," she said. "At first they were just for me and my friends."
Bechdel went on to say her writings became a way for her to express herself, and commented on the fine line she had to walk in order to express herself while still seeming ordinary and not drawing too much attention to herself.
Because of her sexual orientation, Bechdel saw herself as different from everyone else and that publishing the strip helped her to feel normal.
"I didn't see a lot of people like me out in the media," she said. "The strip became a way for me to normalize my own difference. I could express myself while simultaneously maintaining a measure of obscurity."
The artist also gave insight into how her parents shaped her interests as a child.
"I had parents who were really supportive of my being artistic," she said. "Unfortunately, I still had to rebel, so I picked not writing or drawing, but both."
The majority of Bechdel's presentation focused on her critically acclaimed graphic novel "Fun Home," which was published in 2006.
"Fun Home" is a graphic memoir detailing Bechdel's childhood in rural Pa. and her complicated relationship with her father.
"It's a very personal story," Bechdel said. "But it's also about how even our most private selves can't escape our historical context."
Elizabeth Crossen said she finds Bechdel's works to be extremely compelling.
"Her writing is really insightful and has a lot of depth, but it's paired with cartoons," Crossen (junior-sociology and women's studies) said. "It's kind of like a casual psychoanalysis."
Bechdel explained she had been writing the novel for years, and said she considered her 5th grade journal as a sort of early draft. The novelist also explained she thinks that words paired with images combine to create a unique message that shouldn't be looked down on.
In addition, the author talked about some of the idiosyncrasies that have given birth to her works.
Bechdel poses herself for all the character drawings in her work to make it easier to draw character models accurately.
