San Luis Obispo Writers to Kick Off Cal Poly Summer Reading Series June 19

The Cal Poly English Department will kick off the Summer Literary Reading Series with local writers Jennifer Tseng and Patti Sullivan at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19, in the Baker Center for Science & Mathematics (Building 180), Room 114 on campus.

Jennifer Tseng is a
nationally-recognized poet and novelist.

Poet and novelist Tseng was raised in San Luis Obispo. Her first book, “The Man With My Face,” won the 2005 Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s National Poetry Manuscript Competition and a 2006 PEN American Center Open Book Award.

Her new book, “Red Flower, White Flower,” was the recipient of the Marick Press Poetry Prize. “Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness,” her debut novel, is forthcoming from Europa Editions. 

Tseng taught Asian-American studies and creative writing at UCLA and Hampshire College. She is a member of the Artists Advisory Committee for the Millay Colony of the Arts and the circulation assistant, literary events coordinator, and writing workshop facilitator for the West Tisbury Library in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. 

Patti Sullivan is a stalwart
of the SLO literary scene.

Sullivan is an artist and a poet who has lived in the San Luis Obispo area for 16 years. She is the author of chapbooks “For the Day” and “Not Fade Away.” Her poems have appeared in a variety of journals, and her visual art has been exhibited in local galleries.

For many years, Sullivan has assisted with the annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival and two monthly poetry series, Corners of the Mouth at Linnaea’s Café and Poetry at the Steynberg Gallery.

The reading is free and open to the public. Parking passes are $5 and are available at the automatic dispensing machines in the parking loop in front of the Performing Arts Center and at the Highland Avenue entrance to campus.