The Allegheny Mountains Reading Series will present a reading by Penn State associate professor of English William Cobb at 8 p.m. today in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the English department's Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) program.

Cobb, a Texas native, said that writing has always been a part of his life.

"I've always been a writer," said Cobb, who will be reading sections of his new book of short stories, The White Tattoo.

An avid reader, Cobb likes to tell stories. "I always wanted to write novels and stories like all my favorite writers," he said.

After graduating from the University of North Texas, Cobb attended the University of Texas, where he received a master's degree. He then moved to New York and worked for a publishing company.

As a result, Cobb moved from publishing to freelance writing, scribing nonfiction stories for the Houston Chronicle and Texas Monthly.

"I don't do that much anymore," Cobb said.

He does, however, still write essays for the Houston Chronicle.

"Those are more literary, artistic," he said.

After his stint in New York, Cobb moved back to Texas, where he received a doctorate from the University of Houston.

"I didn't want to move to Houston at all," Cobb said, although he now believes his experience in Houston was a good one.

Cobb stayed in Texas for two years, and taught at the University of North Texas.

In 1994, he started teaching at Penn State. It was around this time that he published The Fire Eaters, his first novel about a Southwest family haunted by a ghost.

In 1997, Cobb became the director of MFA, a position that he held until 2001 when he left Penn State for a one-year sabbatical.

During this year, he visited Alaska and Colorado.

"I loved it," he said, although he admitted to growing sick of the Colorado weather. "Colorado was dry and dusty after a while."

Cobb returned to State College this year, and is happy to be back. "I like State College," he said. "It's nice and lush and green."

Cobb's The White Tattoo, a collection of short stories, debuted last spring. "It's about scars -- both physical and emotional," said Cobb, who also said he does not know yet which story he is going to read tonight.

Gabriel Welsch, an organizer of the event, said that the reading would probably last between 45 to 60 minutes.

"The first reading is a little unusual in that Bill is a faculty member," said MFA director Julia Kasdorf. "We like to host writers from other places. It enlarges the scope of our program."

Kasdorf stressed that the event is open to everybody.

"We hope that the community will come and be exposed to these representations of good literature," she said.