Looking for the perfect excuse to dig through your pantry and indulge in some snacking? Us too. Which is why Alta Live will welcome Hilary Campbell to discuss her hot-off-the-press comic memoir, The Joy of Snacking. Packed with colorful imagery, Campbell’s own snack recipes, and the artist’s unmistakable honesty and wit, The Joy of Snacking is the ideal book for anyone who loves to graze. Campbell sits down with us to share some images from the book, reveal what inspired her to write (and draw) an entire book about her relationship with food, and participate in a rapid-fire snack-attack Q&A session. Grab a bag of Cheez-Its and join us!

About the guest:

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is a comedian, writer, and New Yorker cartoonist from Northern California. Her debut graphic memoir, Murder Book, won the Best Graphic Novel prize from the Midwest Book Awards and was shortlisted for Best Nonfiction at Bouchercon. Campbell is also an award-winning filmmaker; her short documentary This Is Not the End was awarded prizes at top festivals across the country before going on to become a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her second graphic memoir, The Joy of Snacking, was published in October 2025.

About the book:

From stand-up comedian, New Yorker and Alta Journal cartoonist, and author of Murder Book Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell comes The Joy of Snacking, a fresh comic memoir about being a snacker in a world of foodies. With equal parts humor and unflinching honesty, Campbell traces her life story through food: from her childhood as the ultimate picky eater, her teenage and young adult years of disordered eating, and finally learning to love herself again as an adult. Punctuated throughout with ridiculous (but real! and important!) snack recipes like “a baggie of goldfish” and “burnt toast,” Campbell captures the reality of growing up in a woman’s body in the ’90s and ’00s in how it shaped her life in work, friendship, and dating. Especially dating. These hilarious stories of family, romance, and belonging prove that if food can isolate us, it also has the power to connect us to what matters most. Aren’t we all seeking love, self-acceptance, and a good snack to get through it?

Here are some notable quotes from the event:

  • On her process of writing the memoir: “When I first sold the book, I was kind of like, I’m just that weird girl that only eats snacks! And I didn’t really realize what I was stepping into, and then I opened a can of worms, basically.”
  • On the freedom of radical honesty: “I think that there’s kind of an othering that can happen when you’re able to place yourself on the page, and then there’s a release. It’s like, it’s still me, but it’s the character of me. I also had moments where I couldn’t believe how bad things had been for me, because I didn’t feel that way anymore. And it blew my mind sometimes. I’m like, I’m not this person anymore, but also that person lives inside of me.”
  • On finding comfort in her own skin: “The radical self-acceptance at the end [of the book] with my going into burlesque. I think I’ve met a lot of women in that world, too, that are just like, I am finally me. I’m just so me, and it’s fine.”

Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.