Another Type of Groove’s 2009-10 Season Starts Oct. 7 at Cal Poly with Poet Tomás Riley

SAN LUIS OBISPO – In celebration of Latino Heritage Month, the Cal Poly MultiCultural Center’s Another Type of Groove presents Chicano spoken word poet and activist Tomás Riley at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in Chumash Auditorium.

Riley’s performance poetry career began in 1994 as a member of the Taco Shop Poets, an eminent Chicano spoken word collective that balanced poetry with live music and grassroots politics. As a member of the Taco Shop Poets and as a soloist, Riley has performed at more than 200 venues across the country. His work has been described as a meld of Chicano bilingualism and conscious cultural politics set to a soundtrack of hip hop, jazz and indigenous ceremony.

Riley was featured on HBO’s documentary “Americanos: Latino Life in the United States” and in the PBS series “American Family.” His poetry has been anthologized in “Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam” and in “Chorizo Tongue Fire: The Taco Shop Poets Anthology” in addition to appearing in many other publications, both in written and audio formats. Riley is director of Residencies at Youth Speaks, a literary arts organization for teen writers in San Francisco.

Another Type of Groove is a spoken word poetry event held the first Wednesday of each month throughout the school year. It is intended to create a place for the interchange of ideas, beliefs and personal expression. Each event is free and open to the public and features a highlighted poet as well as an open mic opportunity for interested students, staff, faculty, and community members.

The MultiCultural Center cultivates a campuswide community that represents and celebrates the diversity of Cal Poly’s student body.

For more information, contact Josue Urrutia or Saba Abuhay at 805-756-1405 or mcc@calpoly.edu, or visit the MultiCultural Center Web site at http://multicultural.calpoly.edu.

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