April’s cruelty may be overstated. Many exciting lit events are on the docket as spring, and the gradual easing of the pandemic, are upon us. Here’s a sample.
April 5
The Very Last Interview
Postmodern literary light David Shields talks about The Very Last Interview, a collection of the interviews he’s given over nearly 40 years. In so doing, he interrogates the process — and his own responses. Virtual event.
6 p.m. | citylights.com
April 11
Mecca
UC Riverside creative writing professor Susan Straight and fellow novelist Vanessa Hua discuss the former’s new book, Mecca, which depicts interconnected Indigenous Californians fighting for their lives and land. Virtual and in-person event at Green Apple Books on the Park.
7 p.m. | greenapplebooks.com
April 12
Matrix
Critically acclaimed novelist Lauren Groff (Fates and Furies) speaks on her latest, Matrix, a historical novel about a 17-year-old woman cast out of the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Sydney Goldstein Theater.
7:30 p.m.; $36. | cityarts.net
April 18
The Candy House
Jennifer Egan will visit Haight Street to talk about her new novel, The Candy House, a companion of sorts to her San Francisco–centric A Visit from the Goon Squad, which won her the Pulitzer Prize.
7 p.m.; $31 (includes a signed copy of the book). | booksmith.com
April 27
City on Fire
In City on Fire, noir crime bard Don Winslow changes the scene from South America — the subject of his Cartel trilogy — to New England, tracing the war between Irish and Italian families sparked by a latter-day Helen of Troy. Corte Madera location.
6 p.m.; $32. | bookpassage.com
