The Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University has partnered up with the Georgia Poetry Circuit to host critically acclaimed poet Andrew Hudgins.

“Andrew Hudgins’ poetry is very accessible, full of dark humor and often deals with his Southern upbringing, which students will relate to and appreciate,” said Eric Nelson, professor of creative writing and coordinator of the event.

In Hudgins’ most recent work, a memoir titled “The Joker,” he explains how humor was a big part of his life while dealing with life’s trials and tribulations. He attributes his unique style of writing to growing up in as what he describes as an unhappy home.

The Georgia Poetry Circuit is an organization of ten schools that brings nationally recognized poets to Georgia to give a reading and workshop to each of the member schools. GPC’s mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.

Hudgins was born in Killeen, Texas, in 1951. He’s from a military family that moved around the American South for most of his childhood. Eventually he attended Huntington College and the University of Alabama. Later on he earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1983.

“For those students who have never been to a poetry reading, this one will show them that poetry is not only painless, but also enjoyable and inspiring,” Nelson said.

The reading is free and open to everyone tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology, Room 1005.