1. Kevin Baker
February 9 At Coliseum Books, 11 W. 42nd St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-803-5892The Dreamland author’s vividly imagined new historical novel, Strivers Row, explores the political unrest that exploded in Harlem during World War II, as seen through the eyes of the man who would become Malcolm X.2. “Dinner & A Reading”
February 9 At Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Ave., nr. St. Felix St., Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 718-636-4100In St. Kitts–born novelist Caryl Phillips’s recent Dancing in the Dark, he channels the life and emotions of Bert Williams, an early blackface star. 3. “A Movement Grows in Brooklyn”
February 8 At the Brooklyn Public Library, 1044 Eastern Pkwy., Bedford, Brooklyn; 718-778-9330Fordham professor Brian Purnell discusses the borough’s little-known involvement in the civil-rights movement of the early sixties.