Cartoonist Alison Bechdel, known for her groundbreaking, richly layered depictions of queer life and family relationships, will receive the 2022 International Humanities Prize from Washington University in St. Louis.
Awarded by the university’s Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, the biennial prize honors the lifetime work of a noted scholar, writer or artist who has made a significant and sustained contribution to the world of arts and letters. Bechdel will receive the prize, which is accompanied by a $25,000 award, during a public ceremony Nov. 9 in the Clark-Fox Forum in WashU’s Hillman Hall.
“Alison Bechdel is one of the preeminent cartoonists of the 21st century,” said Rebecca Wanzo, professor and chair of women, gender and sexuality studies in Arts & Sciences. “Her work invites conversations about sexuality, trauma, medium and genre, women in the academy, place and childhood. How many creators effortlessly move between Ulysses and Donald Winnicott?”
Read the full Washington University announcement.
The Bechdel-Wallace test: 