Thursday, September 18, 2014

Alison Bechdel Receives MacArthur Fellowship


Photo from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.


Congratulations to cartoonist and graphic novelist Alison Bechdel upon her receiving the MacArthur "genius grant" fellowship.

Reading her blog entry titled "MacWHAAAAAAT?????" she sounds surprised and happy that she has been named one of the 2014 MacArthur Foundation recipients. The congratulations are pouring in. From her blog:

"… I’ve heard from people representing the entire spectrum of my life. High school friends. My next door neighbors in Vermont. Long time readers of this blog. A smattering of ex-lovers. Writer friends saying the kindest, most generous things. The president of my college. A bunch of fancy authors and journalists. Several members of the cast and creative team of the musical adaptation of Fun Home. Serious heavyweight mentors and role models—namely, the photographer JEB and the cartoonist Howard Cruse, who made my work possible because of their own revolutionary, pathbreaking efforts when I was still wet behind the ears."

Here's a full list of this year's winners:

  • Danielle Bassert, 32, physicist
  • Alison Bechdel, 54, cartoonist and graphic memoirist
  • Mary L. Bonauto, 53, civil rights lawyer
  • Tami Bond, 50, environmental engineer
  • Steve Coleman, 57, jazz composer and saxophonist
  • Sarah Deer, 41, legal scholar and advocate
  • Jennifer L. Eberhardt, 49, social psychologist
  • Craig Gentry, 41, computer scientist
  • Terrance Hayes, 42, poet
  • John Henneberger, 59, housing advocate
  • Mark Hersam, 39, materials scientist
  • Samuel D. Hunter, 33, playwright
  • Pamela O. Long, 71, historian of science and technology
  • Rick Lowe, 53, public artist
  • Jacob Lurie, 36, mathematician
  • Khaled Mattawa, 50, translator and poet
  • Joshua Oppenheimer, 39, documentary filmmaker
  • Ai-jen Poo, 40, labor organizer
  • Jonathan Rapping, 48, criminal lawyer
  • Tara Zahra, 38, historian of modern Europe
  • Yitang Zhang, 59, mathematician

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