Author Kiese Laymon to Speak at Community College of Philadelphia

Originally published Feb. 21, 2023
Contact:
Megan Lello
mlello@ccp.edu

The award-winning writer will talk about his latest work, Heavy: An American Memoir; answer audience questions; and sign books

PHILADELPHIA – Community College of Philadelphia will welcome celebrated author Kiese Laymon on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 11:30 a.m. in the Bonnell Auditorium. His visit is part of the inaugural One Book, One College initiative, designed to engage students, faculty and staff in reading and discussing one work throughout the year. A book signing will begin at 12:30 p.m. In Heavy, Laymon shares his struggles with an eating disorder, diet, weight and exercise.

“We are delighted to have the talented Kiese Laymon visit our campus. The College community has held conversations about the difficult topics in the book while providing support, education and awareness. This event, part of our Black History Month celebration, honors the contributions of Black writers while acknowledging the importance of communicating personal challenges as a way to help others,” said Dr. Donald Guy Generals, president of the College.

Laymon, an award-winning Black author from Jackson, Mississippi, is the Libby Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University, and a MacArthur Fellow.

In his sharply observant, often hilarious work, Laymon does battle with the personal and the political: race and family, body and shame, poverty and place. The bestselling Heavy: An American Memoir won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, and the audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible Audiobook of the Year. Heavy was named a best book of 2018 by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, NPR, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly, and one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. Laymon is also the author of How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America and the novel Long Division.

Members of the media: Please RSVP to this event by emailing mlello@ccp.edu.

WHAT:           Community College of Philadelphia Author Event

WHO:              Kiese Laymon, author

                        Dr. Donald Guy Generals, president, Community College of Philadelphia

         College students, faculty and staff

WHERE:         Bonnell Building, Room B2-32, 1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130. (Entrance on 17th Street between Spring Garden and Callowhill streets)           

WHEN:            11:30 a.m. 

                        Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 

 

 

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