Colum McCann To Speak At Simsbury Library Event

R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. will host free talks by authors, at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18, David Ricciardi, whose debut thriller set in Iran is “Warning Light.”

Thursday, April 19, Nina Lorez Collins, author of “What Would Virginia Woolf Do?: And Other Questions I Ask Myself as I Attempt to Age Without Apology,” a memoir and advice book based on her Facebook entries. Author Cathi Hanauer will moderate.

Reservations: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.

Other free talks are at 7 p.m. at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown. 860-685-3939.

On Tuesday, April 17, Kate Greathead will discuss her debut novel, “Laura and Emma,” about a single mother and her daughter.

On Wednesday, April 18, Vera Schwarcz will discuss Jewish Holocaust refugees in Shanghai, as described in her book, “In the Crook of the Rock.”

On Thursday, April 19, golf writer Anthony Pioppi will discuss “The Finest Nines” and “To the Nines”, which explore 25 good and 19 unusual nine-hole courses.

On Friday, April 20, Dahlia Schweitzer will talk about “Going Viral: Zombies, Viruses, and the End of the World”, which examines why “outbreak narratives” are popular in books and on TV.

McCann In Simsbury

Reservations are requested by Friday, April 20, for the Friends of the Simsbury Public Library’s annual spring luncheon on May 1, at noon, at the Hop Meadow Country Club, 85 Firetown Road, Simsbury.

Prize-winning Irish author Colum McCann, who won the 2009 National Book Award for his novel “Let the Great World Spin” will speak. His recent story collection is “Thirteen Ways of Looking.” McCann is active in literary organizations in Ireland and America and widely published internationally.

The cost is $30. Reservations: at the library or simsburylibrary.info or 860-658-7663.

Rushdie’s Nicaragua

Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project and Hartford Public Library will sponsor a free discussion at the library, 500 Main St., Hartford, on Wednesday, April 18, at 12:30 p.m., about Salman Rushdie’s “The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey.” It is based on his 1986 visit to post-revolutionary Nicaragua during the Contra war. Participants may bring brown-bag lunches. Light refreshments available. 860-695-6337 or hplct.org.

Bank Square Books

Jennifer A. Payne, a graphic designer and writer in Branford, will give a free talk about her poetry collection, “Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind,” on Sunday, April 15, at 1 p.m. at Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic.

On Wednesday, April 18, at 6 p.m. at Olde Mistick Village Meeting House, 27 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, the bookstore and Kelley’s Pace will present a free talk by Amby Burfoot, Boston Marathon winner and author of “Run Forever” and health and fitness journalist Michelle Hamilton and Olympic marathon medalist Deena Kastor, authors of “Let Your Mind Run.”

On Thursday, April 19, at 6 p.m. at the bookstore, three authors of cozy mystery novels will speak. They are Liz Mugavero, (“Custom Baked Murder” in the Pawsitively Organic Mystery Series), Wendy Corsi Staub, (“Dead of Winter” in the Lily Dale Mystery Series) and Shari Randall, (“Curses, Boiled Again!” in the Lobster Shack Mystery Series). John B. Valeri will moderate. 860-536-3794 or banksquarebooks.com.

Twain Events

Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum will present “Playing With Food,” An Evening with Playwright Jacques Lamarre and his Muses,” on Wednesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford.

Lamarre will discuss basing plays on the books “Raging Skillet;” “I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti;” and “Born Fat” in his onstage conversation with Eric Ort, artistic associate at Theater Works in Hartford. A reception will follow with food from recipes in the books.

Tickets are $25 at marktwainhouse.org or the Museum ticket desk. Proceeds will benefit the Twain House. friendsmth@yahoo.com or 617-905-1912.

The Twain House offers writers three-hour working sessions in his library in the historic landmark, where he lived with his family from 1874 to 1891. The next opportunity is Thursday, April 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. The cost is $75. Writers may use laptops, but there are no electrical outlets or WiFi. Pencils, but not ink pens, may be used.

Registration is required: 860-247-0998 or martktwainhouse.org.

Wintonbury Poetry Series

The Wintonbury Poetry Series will continue Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. at McMahon-Wintonbury Library, 1015 Blue Hills Ave., Bloomfield.

John Roche, who runs the Poetry Playhouse in Albuquerque, N.M., with his wife, Jules Nyquist, will present “Poetry from the Land of Enchantment.” 860-243-9721 or tnicotera@libraryconnection.info.

Spoken Word & Music

The free Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series returns Thursday, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Manchester Community College’s Dehn Gallery, 903 Main St., Manchester.

Peter Gizzi and Jon Ruseski will read at 6:30 p.m. Gizzi, professor of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has published seven poetry collections. Ruseski published his debut collection this year. The Dwonztet jazz quartet will play at 8 p.m. manchestercc.edu/mmg or 860-512-2824.

Book Awards Deadline

The deadline is Friday, April 20, to submit entries for the 2018 Connecticut Book Awards, presented by the Connecticut Center for the Book at Connecticut Humanities.

Awards will go to authors and illustrators who have published books in 2017 in the categories of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry and Young Readers. Finalists will be named in September and winners announced at an October awards ceremony. ctcenterforthebook.org.

Avon Library Events

Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, will continue its free monthly Morning Book Club on Wednesday, April 18, at 10 a.m. The book is “A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline,” a novel inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s iconic painting, “Christina’s World.”

On Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m., Catherine Hoyser of University of St. Joseph will give a free literary lecture on “The Enduring Popularity of Jane Austen and Why She is Still Relevant Today.” 860-673-9712, ext. 4 or avonctlibrary.info.

Dead And Gone

Windsor author Mark Dressler will give a free talk about his novel, “Dead and Gone,” about a Hartford detective. Dressler, a member of Mystery Writers of America, will speak Tuesday, April 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Noah Webster Library, 20 S. Main St., West Hartford. westhartfordlibrary.org.

Poet Andy Weil

Performance poet and humorist Andy Weil, of Bloomfield, will present a free “Poetry with a Touch of Mid-Life Insanity” program on Sunday, April 15, at 2 p.m., at The Village at Buckland Court Retirement Community, 432 Buckland Road. South Windsor. Reservations: 860-644-7366.

“Latino City”

Llana Barber will give a free talk on the book “Latino City: How Puerto Ricans and Dominicans fought against urban crisis and transformed Lawrence, Massachusetts,” on Tuesday, April 17, at 1 p.m. in Science Building 301, on the ECSU campus in Willimantic. 860-465-4594 or patrickvitalecv.wordpress.com

Poetry as Activism

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford, will host a free Salons at Stowe on Poetry as Activism on Thursday, April 19, at 5:30 p.m., following a 5 p.m. reception. Roshae Harrison, Hartford High School student, and Versatile Poetiq, Hartford-based spoken word artist, will speak. Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen: An American Lyric,” the focus of Hartford Public Library’s 2018 “Big Read” will be discussed. Rankine will speak at the library on April 26 at 5:30 p.m.

Reservations: harrietbeecherstowe.org or 860-522-9258, est. 317.

Storyteller’s Cottage

An Author Night with Elizabeth Hill, author of “Green Your Heart, Green Your World: Avoid Burnout, Save the World & Love Your Life,” will be held at the Storyteller’s Cottage, 750 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury on Thursday, April 19, t 7 p.m. The event includes a reading, meditation and journaling.

On Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m., the cottage will host a Nancy Drew Mystery Challenge & Tea Party for Adults with a Detective’s Dinner Party mystery room game and a tea party. Cost: $35.

Registration: 860-877-6099 or StorytellersCottage.com/book-online.

Portland Authors

A free talk by Irene Silvers will open the Spring Portland Authors Series, featuring writers who live in the town, on Tuesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. at Portland Library, 20 Freestone Ave., Portland. Silvers’ novel “Shrink Wrapped,” is about a woman with troubling relationships whose psychologist suggests she keep a journal. 860-342-6770

Kent Memorial Library

On Thursday, April 19, at 1 p.m. at Kent Memorial Library, 61 Ffyler Place, Suffield, Hanna Perlstein Marcus will give a free talk about her memoirs, “Surviving Remnant” and “Sidonia’s Thread.” 860-668-3896 or suffield-library.org

Poetry Rocks!

Poetry Rocks!, the quarterly poetry series at Arts Center East in Vernon, will present a reading by Laura Altshul and Victor Altshul of New Haven, on Sunday, April 15, at 3 p.m. at 709 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon. Crystle Adhikary, an immigrant from Bangladesh, who attends Manchester High School, also will read, and there will be an open mic for the first five poets to sign up. 860-878-7016, pegideitzshea@aol.com or artscentereast.org

The Natural World

“The Natural World, Poetically Speaking,” a reading by poet Joan Hofmann, will be held Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m. at Connecticut Audubon Society, 1361 Main St., Glastonbury, with an open mic for poems written or read by participants on such topics as the natural world, climate change or conservation. Hofmann is poet laureate of Canton. A $5 donation is recommended. 860-633-8402 or ctaudubon.org

Winter’s Cactus

Brandon Alexander (the pen name for Brandon Madden), a recent graduate of the Glastonbury A Better Chance program, will read from his debut poetry collection, “The Winter’s Cactus,” at a reception with music on Friday, April 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at South Congregational Church, 949 Main St., South Glastonbury. glastonburyabc.org