7 P.M. Washington Post staff writer Wil Haygood discusses and signs In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. (just released in paperback) at the New Carrollton Library, 7414 Riverdale Rd., New Carrollton, Md., 301-699-3500.
7 P.M. Michelle Feynman, daughter of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, discusses and signs Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman at Olsson's-Courthouse, 703-525-4227.
7:30 P.M. Journalist Richard Z. Chesnoff discusses and signs The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us -- And Why the Feeling is Mutual at Barnes & Noble-Georgetown, 3040 M St. NW, 202-965-9880.
21 Thursday
6:30 P.M. Marjorie Pivar discusses and signs Fourth Uncle in the Mountain: A Memoir of a Barefoot Doctor in Vietnam, which recalls the experiences of Quang Van Nguyen in Vietnam from the 1950s to the 1980s, at Candida's World of Books, 1541 14th St. NW, 202-667-4811.
7 P.M. Playwright and activist Larry Kramer discusses and signs The Tragedy of Today's Gays at Lambda Rising Bookstore, 1625 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-462-6969.
7 P.M. The Wordworks and Café Muse present a reading and discussion of poetry in translation with poets Luis Alberto Ambroggio and Semezdin Mehmedinovic, authors of El testigo se desnuda and Nine Alexandrias, respectively, and translator Yvette Neisser at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, Md., 301-588-6958. Refreshments precede the readings and a q&a session follows.
7 P.M. Noticiero Univision journalist Jorge Ramos discusses and signs Dying to Cross: The Worst Immigrant Tragedy in American History at Olsson's-Courthouse, 703-525-4227. This event is rescheduled from April 6.
22 Friday
7 P.M. Ruth Reichl, former restaurant critic for the New York Times and now editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, discusses and signs Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.
23 Saturday
8 A.M. Donald Kroodsma, author of The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong, leads a bird walk at Huntley Meadows Park, 3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria, Va. A book signing follows at 10 a.m. Call 703-768-2525 for details and to RSVP.
Special Notices
The Bethesda Literary Festival, now in its sixth year, will be held Friday, April 22, through Sunday, April 24, at various locations in downtown Bethesda, Md., featuring author readings, two poetry slams (one for adults, another for kids grades 6-12) Friday, April 22 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 24 at 3 p.m., respectively, as well as book parties with children's authors and illustrators. Highlights include: on Friday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m., Maryland poet laureate Michael Glaser discusses and signs his work at the Writer's Center (4508 Walsh St.); on Saturday, April 23, at 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble (4801 Bethesda Ave.) hosts its annual Authors' Reception with a host of writers, including Patricia Gaffney, Robert Poole, Marcia Talley and Allan Topol, discussing and signing their work; from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., the 12th-annual Mid-Atlantic Small Press Book Fair, held in conjunction with the festival each year, will take place at the Writer's Center; at 1:30 p.m., Steve Coll, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to Sept. 10, 2001, and Matthew Brzezinski, author of Fortress America, will read at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda (1 Bethesda Metro Center); at 3 p.m., Washington Post writer Joel Achenbach, author of The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West, and congressman John Lewis, author of Walking with the Wind, will read at the Hyatt Regency; at 3 p.m., mystery writers Sujata Massey, Con Lehane and Collen Dixon read at Olsson's-Bethesda, (7647 Old Georgetown Rd.); on Sunday, April 24, at noon, novelists Kate Lehrer, Edita Kay and Susan Coll read at the Hyatt Regency; at 3 p.m., novelists Stephen Dixon and Leslie Pietrzyk read at the Bethesda Regional Library (7400 Arlington Rd. ). For complete details, call 301-215-6660 or visit www.bethesda.org.
Dolores Kendrick, D.C. poet laureate and author of the collections The Women of Plums and Why the Woman is Singing on the Corner, will be inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame on Sunday, April 17, in a ceremony at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Rd. NW. The evening, hosted by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, begins at 4:30 p.m. with a reception, followed by a commemoration at 6 p.m. for all the recipients of this year's Hall of Fame honors. For details and to RSVP, call 202-673-6545. For more information on the poet laureate's office, call 202-724-5613 or visit www.dcarts.dc.gov.
The Literacy Council of Montgomery County will hold an orientation session for prospective tutors interested in helping adults learn to read, write and speak English on Wednesday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Wheaton Library, 11701 Georgia Ave., Wheaton, Md. For details and to register, call 301-942-9292 or e-mail info@literacycouncilmcmd.org.
The citywide festival "D.C. Celebrates Whitman" continues Sunday, April 17, with a walking tour of Walt Whitman's Washington beginning at 10 a.m. in front of the Hotel Monaco at Seventh & F Sts. NW. Martin Murray (Washington Friends of Walt Whitman) and Craig Howell (Chrysalis Arts & Culture Group of Washington) lead this stroll through history, which will be interspersed with readings from Whitman's letters, journals and poems. On Wednesday, April 20, at 4:30 p.m., poet David Bottoms is the featured reader in Catholic University's "Spring Poetry Series" event celebrating Walt Whitman at Hannan Hall, Herzfeld Auditorium, 620 Michigan Ave. NE. Poets Patricia Gray, Saundra Rose Maley, Judith McCombs, Kim Roberts and Richard Sharp, all featured in the current issue of the poetry quarterly Beltway, will also take part. "Taking Poetry to the Streets: A D.C Public Library Celebration of Poetry, " part of the library's annual literary celebration, honors the legacy of Walt Whitman with readings of his work and a brief talk on Whitman's Washington connections by professor Sherwood Smith on Saturday, April 23, at noon. Visit www.washingtonart.com for complete details on the festival
schedule.
