Boston area author visits, week of April 15-21

SUNDAY: The Annual Boston Poetry Month Festival takes place from 1 to 4:45 p.m., at the Boston Public Library, Copley Square … John Hanson Mitchell reads from “The Rose Café,” at 3 p.m., at the Concord Bookshop, 65 Main St., Concord … Susie Davidson discusses her Holocaust book “I Refused to Die,” at 7 p.m., at Congregation Or Atid, 97 Concord Rd., Wayland … Clint Richmond discusses “Political Places of Boston,” at 2 p.m., at the Dorchester Historical Society, William Clapp House, 195 Boston St.

MONDAY: Lucinda Franks discusses “My Father’s Secret War,” at 7 p.m., at the Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St., Brookline … Gary Shteyngart reads from “Absurdistan,” at 6 p.m., at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge ($5) … Gene Wilder signs “My French Whore,” at 7 p.m., at Borders Back Bay, 511 Boylston St.

TUESDAY: Jonathan Wilson discusses “Marc Chagall,” at 6:30 p.m., at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge … Lucinda Franks discusses “My Father’s Secret War,” at 7 p.m., at Borders Back Bay … Dani Shapiro reads from “Black & White,” at 7 p.m., at the Brookline Booksmith … Liz Benedict and Neil Connolly discuss “In the Kennedy Kitchen,” at 7 p.m., at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Cambridge … Kevin Sessums reads from “Mississippi Sissy,” at 7:30 p.m., at Newtonville Books, 296 Walnut St., Newtonville … John Clinch reads from “Finn,” at 5:30 p.m., in Marsh Chapel, Boston University, 735 Comm. Ave.

WEDNESDAY: Poet John Hodgen reads at 7 p.m., at Porter Square Books … Abner Shimony discusses Martin Eger’s “Science, Understanding, and Justice,” at 7 p.m., at Barnes & Noble, Boston University, Kenmore Square … Mohsin Hamid discusses “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” at 6:30 p.m., at the Harvard Book Store … Marc Estrin and Martha Nussbaum discuss “Golem Song,” at 7:30 p.m., at the Harvard Square Coop, Cambridge … Jay Kopelman discusses “From Baghdad with Love,” at 7 p.m., at the Massachusetts School of Law, Woodland Park, 500 Federal St., Andover … Dan Mathews discusses “Committed,” at 12:30 p.m., at Borders Downtown Crossing, 10-24 School St. … Poets Chelsea Rathburn and Len Krisak read at 7:30 p.m., at the Newburyport Art Association Gallery, 65 Water St., Newburyport.

THURSDAY: Porter Square Books sponsors Alexander McCall-Smith reading from “Good Husband of Zebra Drive,” at 7 p.m., at the Masonic Temple, 1950 Mass. Ave., Cambridge … Wayne Johnston discusses “Custodian of Paradise,” at 7:30 p.m., at Newtonville Books … H. Bruce Franklin moderates a panel on prison writing at 7:30 p.m., at First Parish Church, 3 Church St., Cambridge … Ben Greenman reads from “A Circle Is a Balloon and a Compass Both,” at 7 p.m., at the Brookline Booksmith … Stephen Puleo discusses “Dark Tide,” at 7:30 p.m., at the Jenks Senior Center, 109 Skillings Rd., Winchester … Ric Wasley discusses “Shadow of Innocence,” at 7 p.m., at the Harvard Square Coop … Tara Lengsfelder and Eliezer J. Sternberg discuss “Dancing in the Rain” and “Are You a Machine?,” at 4 p.m., in the Gosman Sports Center, Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham.

FRIDAY: Tatyana Tolstaya reads from “The Slynx and White Walls,” at 3 p.m., at the Harvard Bookstore … Susie Davidson discusses “I Refused to Die,” at 1 p.m., at Hebrew Senior Life, 1550 Beacon St., Brookline … Kevin Sessums reads from “Mississippi Sissy,” at 7 p.m., at Calamus Bookstore, 92B South St.

SATURDAY: Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry discuss “This Moment on Earth,” at noon, at Memorial Church, Harvard Yard ($5); tickets available from the Harvard Book Store … Kevin Weeks and Phyllis Karas sign “Brutal,” at 2 p.m., at Borders, 6 Wayside Road, Burlington.

Events are subject to change.