Wordsmiths Series At Bucks Spotlights Award-Winning Authors

NEWTOWN, PA — Bucks County Community College invites the public to hear authors Jennifer Tseng and Amy Small-McKinney read from their works on Friday, September 26 as part of its ongoing Wordsmiths Reading Series.

The free event takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Tyler Hall on the Newtown Campus, and will be followed by a book-signing and reception.

Jennifer Tseng, a poet and fiction writer, was born in Indiana and raised in California by a first-generation Chinese immigrant engineer and a third-generation German-American microbiologist. Her flash fiction collection “The Passion of Woo & Isolde” (Rose Metal Press 2017) was a Firecracker Award Finalist and winner of an Eric Hoffer Book Award.

Her novel “Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness” (Europa Editions 2015) was shortlisted for the PEN American Center's Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the New England Book Award. She's also the author of four award-winning poetry books, including her most recent “Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive” published by University of Massachusetts Press in 2024.

Tseng is serving as the final judge for the 2025 Bucks County Poet Laureate competition, administered by the college.

Amy Small-McKinney is the author of six books of poetry. Her newest book “& You Think It Ends” was released in March by Glass Lyre Press. Her second full-length book of poems “Walking Toward Cranes” (Glass Lyre Press, 2016), won the Kithara Book Prize.

The Wordsmiths Reading Series is another way that Bucks County Community College connects the community with the region’s vibrant literary heritage. The college – which was founded in 1964 and opened its doors the following year – has a long history of hosting literary greats, including poet Allen Ginsberg and many award-winning authors.

The Wordsmiths Reading Series, which is free and open to the public, is funded by the college’s Cultural Affairs Committee. To learn more, visit bucks.edu/wordsmiths or contact the School of Language & Literature at langandlit@bucks.edu or 215-968-8150.

Bucks County Community College is located at 275 Swamp Road, Newtown 18940, where there is ample free parking. For a campus map and directions, visit bucks.edu/newtown.