New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast illustrates life’s absurdities with humor and heart

Susan Bland

8 Oct 2025

Roz Chast, a woman with short light brown hair and glasses, sits on the steps of a brownstone building, resting her chin on her hand and smiling slightly. She wears a navy sweater and dark pants. — Roz Chast addresses the universal topics of guilt, aging, families, money, real estate, and, as she would say, “much, much more.”  Photo courtesy of Bill Hayes.

Since joining The New Yorker in 1978, Roz Chast has become one of the most distinctive artistic voices chronicling the anxieties, superstitions, furies, insecurities, and surreal imaginings of modern life. The beloved cartoonist and illustrator brings her sharp observations and signature humor to the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m.

David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, has called her “the magazine's only certifiable genius.” Chast’s works are typically populated by hapless but relatively cheerful “everyfolk,” and she addresses the universal topics of guilt, aging, families, money, real estate, and, as she would say, “much, much more.” 

She is the author of “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?,” a work that chronicles her relationship with her aging parents as they shift from independence to dependence. Using handwritten text, drawings, photographs, and a keen eye for humans’ foibles, Chast addresses the realities of what it is to get old in America today — and what it is to have aging parents today — with tenderness and candor, and a good dose of her characteristic wit.

“Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” is a New York Times 2014 Best Book of the Year, 2014 National Book Award Finalist, winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best books of 2014, and on the Kirkus list of the “Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far).” The National Endowment for the Arts chose “Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” for the 2018, 2022, 2023, and 2024 Big Read programs.

Her other books for adults include “What I Hate: From A to Z,” “The Party After You Left,” and “Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York,” winner of the New York City Book Award and recognized as one of the 10 best graphic novels of the year by the Washington Post. Her newest book, “I Must Be Dreaming,” is a New York Times bestseller, a USA Today bestseller, a New Yorker Best Book of the Year, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, a Washington Post Best Graphic Book of the Year, and received a “star” review from Publishers Weekly.

Chast is also the author of books for children, including “Around the Clock,” “Too Busy Marco,” and “Marco Goes to School.” Chast has collaborated with Calvin Trillin on “No Fair! No Fair! And Other Jolly Poems of Childhood,” Erin McKean and Danny Shanahan on “Totally Weird and Wonderful Words,” Daniel Menaker on “The African Svelte: Ingenious Misspellings that Make Surprising Sense,” and Steve Martin on “The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!”

Chast grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and received a bachelor of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design with studies in graphic design and painting, though she soon after returned to her love of cartooning. Fewer than two years out of college, at age 24, The New Yorker magazine added her to its roster of approximately 40 artists under contract, and the publication has published her work continuously ever since. Chast has also provided cartoons and editorial illustrations for nearly 50 magazines and journals, from Mother Jones to Town & Country.

She lectures widely and has received numerous awards, including honorary degrees from Pratt Institute and the Art Institute of Boston, as well as the Reuben Award, Heinz Award, Visionary Woman Award, Best of Brooklyn Literary Award, and the first Thurber Prize in Cartoon Art. In addition, she has been inducted into the Society of Illustrator's Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also the recipient of a 2023 National Humanities Medal.

This performance is co-sponsored by the Department of English Visiting Writers Series and supported in part by gifts from Ellen and Leo Piilonen and the Easels. Additional funding is provided by the James M. and Margaret F. Shuler Fund for Excellence.

Related events

During her visit to Blacksburg, Chast will discuss her unique approach to storytelling with students from the Department of English and School of Visual Arts.

Tickets

Tickets are $25 for general admission and $10 for students and youth 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Center for the Arts box office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.

Venue and parking information

The performance will be held in the center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Street and Davis Performance Hall at 190 Alumni Mall. Convenient parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street and in downtown Blacksburg. Find more parking details online.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jamie Wiggert at least 10 days prior to the event at 540-231-5300 or email wiggertj@vt.edu during regular business hours.