A: Well, I have mixed feelings, of course, since my whole essay is about the inhibiting effect of reading lists and canons. I'm ecstatic that my book is considered a "new classic," but I hate that people might now feel some kind of obligation to read it. It's the same way with English classes. Fun Home has been taught in a number of college literature courses, and while I'm glad for the exposure and the sales, I find it distressing that there's an essentially captive audience being forced to read my work.

Q: What did you become interested in first - writing or illustrating?

A: I could draw before I could write, so I guess I'd have to say drawing. But even before I knew how to read or write, I loved letterforms, and would incorporate random letters of the alphabet (or approximations thereof) into my early drawings. The two things are pretty inextricably linked for me. I can't write without using pictures, and I can't draw without wanting to drag words onto the page too.

Q: How has syndicated comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For changed since you started it in 1983?

A: It got a lot more intricate over the years. As I became a better artist, the drawings got more complex. And that meant the writing also got more complex-there was just more going on. Once I compared the word count between an average early strip, and an average strip circa 2000. The later ones had almost twice as many words-in the same space.

Q: Who were your literary and artistic influences growing up? What do you like to read now?

A: Edward Gorey was a big influence. I had some kids' books that he did the illustrations for, very wry and strange. Then as I got older I discovered his adult work and became a complete devotee. Norman Rockwell was also a powerful formative influence. And Mad magazine, back when it was really good in the late sixties, early sevent

Q: What advice would you have for young people who want to become graphic novelists?

A: I'm very loathe to give anyone advice about anything. But if pressed, I would advise aspiring graphic novelists to draw their asses off. And then to read other peoples'work, and rip it off. Figuring out how other people draw stuff is immensely useful.

Q: What upcoming projects are you working on?

A: I'm working on another graphic memoir. Or trying to. This one is going to be about relationships, and the vexing philosophical problem of self vs. other. I'm going to use anecdotal evidence from my own love life,combined with various literary and psychoanalytic references, to try and figure out what it is we want from the people we get romantically involved with.

Interview Date: August 2008
Profile and questions compiled by Megan M., Main Library