In addition to working as an assistant computer science professor and the creator of TechnoClassica, Dr. Max Fomitchev is also a published bilingual poet.

"I like beautiful language," Fomitchev said. "So I'm trying to find comparisons and words that when put together will send shivers down your spine."

His newest and single largest collection of works is called Verses, Poems, Sonnets. He will be reading excerpts from it at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at Woskob Family Gallery in the Penn State Downtown Theatre, 127 S. Allen St.

Fomitchev said he came to the United States in 1997 because the situation in Russia, his homeland, was worsening. He said many Russians were forced to steal in order to live. Working three jobs in order to guarantee a sufficient income, finding a career in the United States seemed like a good option.

What Fomitchev soon discovered was that life in America was more comfortable compared to Russia. He explained it as a sort of "socialism in reverse," he said.

Before even making the move to the United States, he began writing poetry in English and is now trying to write in English even more so people can understand what he's saying, he said. However, about 95 percent of his

poetry is still written in Russian.

Another "language" he proficiently writes in is that of computer programming.

"Writing good software is like writing good poetry," he said. "In ... computer science you can express your thoughts beautifully, elegantly or like crud."

Shortly after authoring a book on computer programming, Enterprise Application Development with Visual C++ 2005, Penn State asked Fomitchev to fill the position of assistant computer science professor, which he has held since 2006.

"I felt a need to teach because I wanted to communicate with students," he said.

He said he tries to teach students to write "beautiful software" so that it's clearly understood.

"There is a direct parallel," he said. "It just rhymes differently," he said.

The themes of his poetry have progressed from a 16-year-old's world of love and nature to a deeper focus on social issues, often stemming from the political climate in Russia.

"The words that I most strongly want to be heard are the recent poems on changes in the society worldwide," he said.

He writes his poetry for anybody to read because, he said, politics affect everyone in some way.

"It's difficult to write poetry

about politics," he said. "What can be further from poetry than politics?"

He said he chooses issues such as "the truth" instead of more specific ones like the election.

Though he said he thinks the romantic poetry will be relevant to students' lives, he said he hopes "poetry that's focused on contemporary issues will just open their eyes and hearts."

He said he hopes that by writing and sharing his poems in both Russian and English he will draw a bilingual crowd of readers.

"You don't have to write a lot," he said. "But you can put them together in a way that the words have not been used before and at the same time convey a powerful meaning."