Critically praised author Marion Winik, associate professor in the University of Baltimore's Klein Family School of Communications Design, will read from her new collection, The Baltimore Book of the Dead, as the M.F.A. Reading Series continues on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Bogomolny Room in the UB Student Center, 21 W. Mt. Royal Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

When Cheryl Strayed was asked by The Boston Globe to name a book she finds herself recommending time and again, she chose Prof. Winik's The Glen Rock Book of the Dead. Now that book has a sequel, The Baltimore Book of the Dead, another collection of brief portraits, their compressed narratives weaving an unusual, richly populated memoir. UB's celebration of its publication wiill take on a slightly early "Day of the Dead" party atmosphere, including Mexican decorations and refreshments. All are invited to bring photographs of lost loved ones and/or objects associated with them to add to the traditional-style altar of marigolds and candles.