Two speakers who can help bridge the gap between the sciences and humanities will be reading poetry that reflects the relationship between imagination and place tonight.

Mary Swander, professor of English, and Robert Tremmel, associate professor of English, are the second group of speakers in the “Imagining the Land Reading Series.” The series is coordinated jointly by the Departments of English and Landscape Architecture.

A goal of the series is to “encourage students to articulate feelings about land site,” said Sheryl St. Germain, assistant professor of English and series coordinator. “Be happy and excited, not just about the Midwest, but to think about where they want to go.”

St. Germain remarked that Tremmel and Swanders were good candidates to include in the series because they are both from Iowa and their writing reflects that.

“It seems like a natural connection to me between writers and landscapes,” Tremmel said. “I have a personal interest in the outdoors, gardening. The outdoors is a hell of a place to be.”

Swanders and Tremmel were asked by St. Germain to read their poetry because they are speakers who know how to entertain students.

“We want to bring people who will come in and be excited, feel passionate about something, make it happen,” said Joni Palmer, adjunct assistant professor of landscape architecture and series coordinator.

Tremmel and Swander’s 16 poems will be presented in alternation.

“Mary has a poem about how a cow jumped on top of her car in Ireland, and I have a poem about a dead animal,” Tremmel said. “Dead elk and a flying cow — we’re reading about some crazy things.”

Between the poetry readings, the speakers will talk about the poems to better explain the esoteric references, Tremmel said.

“I tend to talk about where the poem came from, how it came to be,” he said. “It’s hard to get a handle on a poem when you’ve read it once.”

Tremmel, who has also written “Zen and the Practice of Teaching English” and “Driving Milford Blacktop,” admitted that he doesn’t wait around for inspiration, because if he did, he wouldn’t get any writing done.

His poems have been published in a number of publications, and he also writes academic journals as part of his job as a coordinator of teacher education.

“It’s hard for me to imagine a weekday morning where I don’t spend time working on poems,” said Tremmel, who wakes up at 7 a.m. to write poems. “I miss it when I can’t. It’s a wonderful way to start the day.”

Swander is a widely published poet and essayist as well as the recipient of numerous awards. She is the author of three volumes of poetry.