Iowa State assistant professor of English Sheryl St. Germain wants her students to get more from writing than a letter grade. She wants them heal their hearts by pouring their feelings on paper.

St. Germain will work toward her goal by hosting Robin Metz, author of “Unbidden Angel,” who will speak twice today in Ross Hall.

The presentations are part of the “Imagining The Land” reading series co-sponsored by the English and Landscape Architecture departments at ISU.

Metz has been an author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction for over 30 years, but before “Unbidden Angel,” she had never published an entire book of poetry.

The book of 50 original works, which includes an introduction by St. Germain, was inspired by and is dedicated to the memory of Metz’s late wife, Elizabeth Jhanke Metz.

After her unexpected death in 1993, Metz dealt with his grief partly through writing down his feelings in a series of over 200 poems.

Metz’s poetry parallels the healing process he has engaged in since the incident.

“Grief never actually ends,” he explained.

Metz plans to publish a trilogy of poetry on dealing with the loss of a loved one, titled “The Reply of the Tongues.” His publishers are currently deciding whether to publish the volumes separately or include all three in one collection.

“A certain number of the poems of future volumes need yet to be written,” Metz said.

“Unbidden Angel” is being praised by critics, art lovers and those who approach the book as a bereavement text alike. It has inspired musicians and composers to create original compositions, some of which may appear in the form of a CD, packaged along with the trilogy.

Metz has also established a critically acclaimed theater group called Vitalist Theater, which dedicates their performances to the memory of Jhanke Metz.

Elizabeth Carlin Metz, Jhanke Metz’s closest friend in life, helped Robin Metz establish the theater group and also helped him in the writing process.

“When Elizabeth died, we were the ones most overwhelmed by a sense of loss,” Metz said. Now the two are happily married and approaching their third wedding anniversary.

“They’re my two Liz’,” Metz said. “The three of us live together in great harmony.”

“Unbidden Angel” is a metaphor for the angel of death, which “is not something we would call to us,” Metz said.

Metz’s ability to transform loss into art is what St. Germain wants her students to think about. “The loss is still terrifying but is also beautiful,” St. Germain said.

St. Germain called Metz’s writing “very interesting and different. It’s all anger and grief.” She wants her students to focus not only on what Metz does, but how he does it.

“Not everyone’s pain is interesting to others,” Metz said. “It takes skill to know how to write a poem that speaks to other people.”

St. Germain’s ultimate goal is for her students to “be able to go into their psyches and pull out stuff they didn’t know they could write about.”

Metz is currently finishing the novel he was writing at the time of his wife’s death. At one point, Metz “felt emotionally never able to return to the manuscript,” but six years later, he is completing the project and feels it is something he must do.

Along with his 4 p.m. poetry reading, Metz will talk about grief and poetry at 2 p.m. in Room 212 of Ross Hall.

Both events are free and open to the public.