Freshman Reading Program

September 25, 2012 — As Drexel’s Freshman Reading Program enters into its ninth year, incoming first-year students are gearing up to discuss their summer reading assignment, a memoir entitled Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, in their English 101 classes.

Pig Candy is a memoir about an ailing father’s final trip from Philadelphia to his hometown in Georgia. As author Lise Funderburg says on her website, “essentially, it’s a book about life, death, and barbecue.” One Book, One Philadelphia author Edwidge Danticat describes Pig Candy as “a candid and moving memoir of a daughter’s deep love for her father both when he is most difficult to love and impossible not to.”

In tandem with the reading assignment, students are also encouraged to participate in a writing contest, prompted by the author herself. Contest winners and runners-up will be invited to take part in an intimate master class where they’ll meet and work with the author face-to-face. Contest submissions due by October 8, 2012.

Funderburg will be on campus October 23, 2012 for the master class, as well as a lecture and book signing.

Tuesday, October 23rd

• 2:00-3:30PM: Master Class with contest winners and runners-up
• 5:00-6:30PM: Lecture about Pig Candy and Book Signing in Main Auditorium

Lise Funderburg’s many publications include the highly regarded book, Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity, as well as scores of articles in publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Salon, The Nation, and Prevention. Funderburg won a 2003 Nonfiction Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and she teaches creative writing at various universities. In addition, she is a regular contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine and has written a book about the Broadway musical The Color Purple.

Want to join in on the discussion? Visit the Drexel Reading Program Facebook page!

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