Poet Marvin Bell, a 40-year faculty member of the IowaWriters’ Workshop, will read from his new collection, Vertigo: The Living Dead Man Poems at 7 p.m. today at Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque.

"He has a wealth of knowledge about poetry," said Jan Weissmiller of Prairie Lights, a former student of Bell’s. "He is very entertaining; his work is very direct and not obscure at all."

The reading will feature Bell’s literary invention, a poetic form called the "Dead Man" poems.

Bell has published 17 books of poetry and has received numerous awards and honors including the Lamont Award from the Academy of American Poets, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and Senior Fulbright appointments to Yugoslavia and Australia.

— by Carly Hurwitz