A featured speaker of the Gilbert Lecture Series, poet Karl Kirchwey, will read from his new book, “The Happiness of the World: Poetry and Prose,” in the Stanley Marcus reading room of the DeGolyer Library today at 6:30 p.m.

English professor John Lewis encourages students to attend the reading, as he believes that the way a poem is read by the author can be very revealing.

“Who knows, it might turn out that you actually like poetry,” Lewis said.

The event is free and open to the public. At 6 p.m. there will be a reception in the Texana Room of the DeGolyer Library, where hors d’oeuvres will be served and copies of Kirchwey’s book may be purchased.

Following the reading, there will be a book signing. Kirchwey is director of creative writing, director of the Arts Program, and an associate professor in the arts at Bryn Mawr College.

He has published four books of poems including “A Wandering Island,” which won the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, and “The Engrafted Words,” which was a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year.” His poetry has also appeared in multiple publications such as The Nation, The New Republic and The New Yorker.