Colin Cheney, poet and author of “Here be Monsters,” will give a reading of his work at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28 in the Wall Auditorium at Coastal Carolina University. The event, which is a part of the Words to Say it Visiting Writers Series, is free and open to the public.

“Here Be Monsters,” Cheney’s first book, was selected as the winner of the 2009 National Poetry Series Open Competition. In this collection, Cheney maps an American landscape where creation and destruction intertwine through natural processes (evolution, pollution) and human activity (technology, encroachment).

Cheney was awarded the Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation in 2006, and his work has appeared in such journals as American Poetry Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Crazyhorse, Notre Dame Review, and Gulf Coast. He also received a 2010 Pushcart Prize for his poem “Lord God Bird.” Cheney currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

Cheney’s book will be available for sale and signing after the talk.

The Words to Say it series aims to bring critically acclaimed authors to campus each year. For more information, contact Dan Albergotti, coordinator of the series and associate professor of English, at 843-349-2420.