FARMINGTON — Author and journalist Amy Sutherland will be the next reader in the University of Maine at Farmington’s Visiting Writers Series on Thursday, Oct. 14.

The free, public event will take place at 7:30 p.m.in The Landing in the UMF Olsen Student Center.

Formerly a features writer with the Portland Press Herald, Sutherland is the author of three books. Her first, “Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America,” offers a candid look at American life through the lens of cooking contests across the country. A finalist for the International Association of Culinary Professionals 2004 Cookbook Awards in the literary category, Sutherland’s book was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” and included in Amazon.com’s list of the best 50 books of 2003.

In her second book, “Kicked, Bitten and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers,” Sutherland walks in the footsteps of students who interact with wild animals on a daily basis. This experience provides the foundation for her most recent book, “What Shamu Taught Me About Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers” — based on her top e-mailed New York Times column. In it she describes how she learned a new way of thinking and living from animal trainers, and how she became a different person after having discovered a world where cheetahs walk nicely on a leash, hyenas pirouette on command and baboons skateboard.

Sutherland has also written articles for Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and Down East Magazine. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Boston and Portland with her husband, Scott, and their dog.