The English department at Community College of Philadelphia is pleased to sponsor a series of events that are funded in part through a National Endowment for the Arts grant program, The Big Read, and is designed to encourage and increase reading in communities. This grant enables us to host a number of connected literary discussions, and to focus, for the month of October, on the Philadelphia work of Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe’s work is known for its horror, the emphasis on the macabre and grotesque; however, it is infrequently discussed as a form of commentary on contemporary 19th century social issues like urbanization, industrialization, the role of women and race conflicts in American cities, especially Philadelphia. As the first professional American writer and literary critic, Poe’s influence was profound and his difficult life perpetually interesting. His ideas about psychology and technology continue to prove prophetic.
Please join us to look at the most recent literary and historical visions of Poe’s significance, especially as he worked and struggled in our own Philadelphia. View the calendar of events for for more information.