November 28, 2005—Oberlin College's creative writing program will present a reading by poet Marilyn Chin, a leading voice in contemporary Asian-American literature, Wednesday, November 30 at 4:30 p.m.

The free, public reading, which is also sponsored by Shansi and the Multicultural Resource Center, will be held in Room 106 of the King building, 10 N. Professor St.

A winner of four Pushcart Prizes, Chin was born in Hong Kong and raised in Oregon and San Francisco. She has published three volumes of poetry: Rhapsody in Plain Yellow, The Phoenix Gone, the Terrace Empty, and Dwarf Bamboo. She currently teaches poetry at San Diego State University.

Her take on poetry includes the central philosophy that poetry must do something. "I don't quite believe in art for art's sake. I believe there must be a higher order. What we write can change the world. That may sound a little idealistic but I feel it's very important that poetry make something happen."

Chin also tries to teach her students "to pay attention to what they're reading," as well as expose them to many different forms that cross cultures and languages. "I try to stress that they learn in another language and relate to poetry in another language. I think it's very important that we think about ourselves as globalizing.