Writer Bich Minh Nguyen will read from her memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner. The reading will be followed by a book signing with the author. Refreshments will be served, and both events are free and open to the public.

 Bich Minh Nguyen was born in Saigon in 1974. She received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan and currently teaches creative nonfiction, fiction, and Asian American literature at Purdue University. Nguyen's first book, Stealing Buddha's Dinner (Viking Penguin, 2007), received the PEN/Jerard Award from the PEN American Center and was named a Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2007, a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book, and a BookSense pick. Her work has also appeared in publications such as Gourmet magazine, Jane magazine, Dream Me Home Safely: Writers on Growing up in America, Watermark, and Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose. Her first novel, Short Girls, will be published by Viking Penguin in 2009.

For more information, please contact Jill Christman (jcchristman@bsu.edu) or visit our website: http://www.bsu.edu/english/creativewriting/ The 2008-2009 Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by Creative Writing in the Department of English at Ball State University.