The award winning author discusses "Self Portraits: Fictions," where fantasy and reality collide as the book´s principal characters --- two lovers --- meet, part and reunite, time and again, at different stages in life and in landscapes both familiar and exotic.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.

James Ellroy returns to the Strand to discuss his new book, "The Hilliker Curse" --- a predator´s confession, a treatise on guilt and on the power of malediction and above all, a cri de coeur.

Ellroy unsparingly describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his writing life, his love affairs and marriages, his nervous breakdown and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the long-sought Her.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.

Journalist Katherine Lanpher interviews Norwegian writer Per Petterson, who will read from his latest novel, "I Curse The River Of Time" and musical group Runaway Dorothy, who will perform selections from their debut CD.

For more information, call (212) 253-0810.

For children of all ages and their caregivers, author Jennifer Berne and illustrator Keith Bendis will read from their new book "Calvin Can´t Fly; The Story Of A Bookworm Birdie".

Jennifer, a long-time contributor to Nick Jr. Magazine and award-winning author, and Keith, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Fortune and Time, as well as in nine books, will tell the story of Calvin, one unusual starling! While his siblings and cousins learn to fly, this rare bird lets his imagination soar while reading about pirates, dinosaurs and other fascinating things.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.

A group of gifted poets --- including Thomas Fucaloro, Meghann Plunkett, Jon Sands, Jeanann Verlee and Michael Warr of The Bowery Poetry Club --- share their work.

Presented as part of the Howl Festival, which celebrates local cultural icons and lionizes, preserves and advances the art, history, culture and counterculture unique to the East Village and Lower East Side. Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets through the link below.

Urban Word mentor Regie Cabico and Executive Director Michael Cirelli curate and host a spoken word showcase by New York’s young poets and their mentors who have taken top prizes at Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam competition, Speak Green at Sundance Film Festival and the National Poetry Slam.

Founded in 1999, Urban Word NYC presents literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature and hip-hop

Presented as part of the Howl Festival, which celebrates local cultural icons and lionizes, preserves and advances the art, history, culture and counterculture unique to the East Village and Lower East Side. Show times and tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets through the link below.

Michele Norris, named "Journalist Of The Year" by the National Association Of Black Journalists for her coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign, will discuss her memoir, "The Grace Of Silence".

"The Grace Of Silence" asks the difficult question, "how well do you know the people who raised you?" and answers it in a powerful, honest and deeply moving way that will serve as a model for us all to take up the question with our families, communities and country.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.

The author shares "The Unnamed," his dazzling novel about a marriage and a family and the unseen forces of nature and desire that seem to threaten them both. It is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.

The bestselling author of "Water For Elephants" returns to read from her new novel, "Ape House".

"Ape House" is about a sciencist who understands animals far better than she does people --- until she meets a handsome (and married) reporter.

For more information, call (212) 253-0810.

The author and former US Secretary Of Labor shares his book "Aftershock" which argues that the reason the nation´s economy foundered in 2008 is structural: it lies in the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top --- and a middle class that had to go deeply into debt to maintain a decent standard of living.

For more information, call (212) 473-1452.