HARDWICK – A crowd filled the Hazen Union Auditorium last Friday to hear from award-winning cartoonist and author, Alison Bechdel. She discussed her newest comic novel, “Spent,” answered questions and signed books. “This is the very last stop on my cross-country book tour, and I am so excited to be finishing in Hardwick,” said Bechdel.
photo by Alex Strand
Members of the crowd included lifelong fans of the author, family friends and Hardwick locals. One couple was visiting from New Jersey on vacation, another had lived in the area their entire life.
Ruby Leslie, a Hardwick resident of over 40 years, came to support Bechdel because her daughter worked with the author on her previous book, “Are You My Mother.”
Olivia Gay and Janet Ansel were visiting from Calais. They are members of a book club with family members from across the U.S. Gay hopes to propose “Spent” as the book club’s next read.
The event’s location was moved multiple times, said librarian Diane Grenkow, due to the unexpected amount of ticket sales. The high school was chosen for its size.
“Spent” is a comic novel that includes both real and made-up details of Bechdel’s life in Vermont. The title has multiple meanings, she said on Vermont Edition. It references aging, exhaustion with the political and economic state of America and the literal process of spending and making money as an artist.
“I play around with what’s true and what’s fiction over the course of this story; one thing that’s true about this story is that I do live in Vermont, and the story is set in Vermont. Vermont is almost a character in this book,” said Bechdel. “I’m so grateful to Vermont. In many ways Vermont has made my life and my work possible. I’ve lived here since I was 30, and I’ve just felt very nurtured and sustained by our wonderful community and our beautiful landscape.”
The novel explores themes of capitalism in Bechdel’s life, as well as Republican administrations and Trump and pro-Palestine activism. She began writing shortly after Trump’s first term. She focuses on finding solidarity within her Vermont community, and encourages readers to do the same.
“Another aspect of this book that is unfortunately completely true is the political backdrop. It’s tracking with all the terrible signs of a crumbling democracy that were going on in real time,” Bechdel told the crowd.
Bechdel showed scenes from the novel, explaining the use of characters from her original comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, which she stopped writing in 2008. Now, the characters have progressed; they have grey hair, and one couple has a child that is now college aged. The scenes she projected often brought the crowd to loud laughter as Bechdel spoke.
“It felt really good to come together with these old friends. They were just like the perfect companions for this moment, because they’re all still doing the vital community based work that they’ve been doing all along,” said Bechdel.
Bechdel’s partner, Holly, collaborated with her to color the illustrations.
Following her talk, she answered questions from the group, many of whom she knew by name, and signed books. Her final slide displayed information on the upcoming No Kings Day protests.
One crowd member asked about what brought Bechdel to Vermont. She came, and stayed, she said, because she was in love with the place, its mountains and has always felt safe to her, as a queer person, even in rural areas. She has lived in Vermont for 30 years.
Alex Strand
Alex Strand is a Hardwick Gazette reporting intern for this summer. She is a rising junior at the University of Vermont studying English and Psychology. She is from Boston, MA, but has begun to fall in love with the Northeast Kingdom. In her free time, she likes reading, swimming and canoe tripping.
