Poet Miguel Algarin howls away at last year's fest.   (Photo: Courtesy of Howl!)

1. Allen Ginsberg Poetry Festival:
Country rocker turned lit gadfly Steve Earle opines on politics and poetics, reads a little Ginsberg, and then cedes the floor to usual suspects like Tracie Morris and Edwin Torres in the heart of Beat country: tamed but not forgotten Tompkins Square Park.
• Tomkins Square Park Bandshell, 7th St., between Aves. A and B; howlfestival.com. 8/20, 5-9 p.m.

2. All-Star Poetry Jam:
Thanks to Moby, Suzanne Vega, and impresario Bob Holman, the emphasis of this performance-poet benefit is definitely on the performance—which is not to say there won’t be some true bards (Torres, Carl Hancock Rux) in the mix.
• Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette St., publictheater.org. 8/22, 9:30 p.m.

3. KGB Book Party:
New York’s Mark Jacobson (co-editor of the new KGB Bar Non-Fiction Reader) curates a soirée filled with contributors and other book-world luminaries—Jack Newfield, Fab 5 Freddy, J. Hoberman, Luc Sante, and Earle again—to celebrate the new house volume.
• KGB, 85 E. 4th St., 212-505-3360. 8/20, 7 p.m.

4. Is Another City Possible?
Writer-activists Sofia Quintero (Explicit Content) and James Tracy (Still a Beating Heart: San Francisco After the Brown Years) join tour guide–activist Bruce Kayton (the “Radical Walking Tours”) to discuss social-justice movements and the cities where they roost.
• Bluestockings, 172 Allen St., 212-777-6028. 8/22, 7 p.m.

5. Dissent Through Design:
Graphic designer Nicholas Blechman, along with a few contributors, speaks about his anthology Empire: Nozone IX, which rallies artists and designers against the forces that dominate our politics and culture.
• Housing Works, 126 Crosby St., 212-334-3324. 8/24 at 7 p.m.

Related:

• Archive: “Top Five”
• Articles by Boris Kachka
• Table of Contents: August 23, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!