Literary Calendar

Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2008

27 MONDAY

4:30 P.M. Poet and teacher Stanley Plumly, author of the collection Old Heart, discusses Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography in the opening of the 2008-09 season of the series "Speaking of Books ... Conversations with Campus Authors" at the University of Maryland, McKeldin Library, Room 6137, College Park, Md. A light reception and book signing follow. Contact Eric Lindquist at 301-314-7266 for details.

7 P.M. Writer and journalist Padma Viswanathan reads from and signs her new novel, The Toss of a Lemon, at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Will Vaus, a C.S. Lewis scholar, discusses and signs The Professor of Narnia: The C.S. Lewis Story at the C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 E. Patrick St., Frederick, Md., 301-600-1630.

7:30 P.M. Vince Flynn reads from and signs his new Mitch Rapp thriller, Extreme Measures, at Borders Books-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, Baileys Crossroads, Va., 703-998-0404.

28 TUESDAY

4 P.M. Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World, will take part in an informal Q&A at the University of Maryland, Marie Mount Hall, Maryland Room, College Park, Md. He will also present a lecture, "The Wars at Home: From the AIDS Epidemic to 9/11," on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. at the university's McKeldin Library, Special Events Room (#6137). He is speaking as the Department of English's Artist-in-Residence.

7 P.M. Eugene Jarecki discusses and signs The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril, the sequel to his documentary "Why We Fight," at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Bobby Austin reads from and signs Circus Clowns & Carnival Animals: Growing Up in the Ebb and Flow of Rural Black Life, his new collection of short stories, at the Shirlington Branch Public Library, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va., 703-228-6545. A book signing will follow at 8:30 p.m. across the street at Busboys and Poets (Shirlington), 4251 S. Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va., 703-379-9756.

7:30 P.M. National Geographic photographer Sam Abell discusses his new book, The Life of a Photograph (drawing on his near-40 years of fieldwork), as part of the "National Geographic Live!" series at the National Geographic Society, Grosvenor Auditorium, 1600 M St. NW. Admission is $18 for nonmembers; call 202-857-7700 or visit http://www.nglive.org to RSVP.

29 WEDNESDAY

Noon. The "Nextbook" series and the D.C. Jewish Community Center present a reading and discussion with Israeli writer David Grossman, author of The Yellow Wind, the novel Someone to Run With and the newly-published Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics, at American University, Katzen Art Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. For details, call 202-777-3251 or e-mail margalitr@washingtondcjcc.org; register at http://www.washingtondcjcc.org/nextbook.

Noon. The Center for the Book's "Books & Beyond" series hosts a reading and discussion with Leonard S. Marcus, author of Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature, at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Mumford Room, 101 Independence Ave. SE, 202-707-5221.

6:30 P.M. Photographer and photo historian Deborah Willis and journalist Kevin Merida discuss heir new collaboration, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., 801 K St. NW (at Mt. Vernon Square). A book signing follows; call 202-383-1828 for details, and e-mail RSVP@historydc.org to register.

6:30 P.M. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek discusses and signs The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces at Reiter's Scientific & Professional Books, 1990 K St. NW (entrance on 20th St.), 202-223-3327.