Tim Bascom brings an opportunity for student to expand their knowledge of a different lifestyle.

Bascom will be read from and discuss his newest book, “Chameleon Days,” at 7 p.m. tonight in Jordan Lecture Hall.

Bascom has won the Bakeless Creative Nonfiction Prize in 2005 for his memoir, “Chameleon Days,” but according to Professor of English Melvin Wilk the Forum will be especially interesting not only because of Bascom’s prestige but because he’ll talk about growing up in Ethopia, where his father worked as a missionary doctor.

Bascom has also had an essay published in “The Best American Travel Writing of 2005” called “A Vocabulary for my Senses.”

“I assigned some of my classes to read “A Vocabulary for my Senses,” and they are required to attend and meet Bascom,” Wilk said. “It’s kind of prestigious to have an essay in the book.”

Bascom teaches at Des Moines Area Community College Newton Campus, which is where Wilk met him.

“I met him when I gave a poetry reading at DMACC Newton,” Wilk said.

Wilk invited Bascom to be part of Simpson’s Poets and Writer Series, and he encourages students to attend the Forum for their own benefit away from the classroom.

“I think it’s important for students to attend because it enlarges their understanding of a troubled, but interesting African country,” Wilk said. “It’s an opportunity to get a first-hand account of Ethiopian life.”