Dave Eggers
Strand Bookstore; 1/14 at 7 p.m.; 828 Broadway, at 12th St.; 212-473-1452
The McSweeney’s czar signs copies of his books Zeitoun and The Wild Things, as well as McSweeney’s, No. 33: The San Francisco Panorama, a Sunday-edition sized newspaper.
Sara Barron, Doree Shafrir and Claire Zulkey
Word ; 1/14 at 7:30 p.m.; 126 Franklin St., at Milton St.; 718-383-0096
Funny ladies/bloggers/writers/performers Sara Barron (People Are Unappealing: True Stories of Our Collective Capacity to Irritate and Annoy), Doree Shafrir (Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages From Home) and Claire Zulkey (An Off Year) read from their respective works.
Joyce Carol Oates and Elaine Showalter
92nd Street Y; 1/17 at 11 a.m.; 1395 Lexington Ave., nr. 92nd St.; 212-415-5500
What two better authorities to discuss women and writing on the occasion of the publication of Showalter’s A Jury of Her Peers, a history of American women writers from 1650 to 2000.
Patti Smith
Barnes & Noble; 1/19 at 7 p.m.; 33 E. 17th St., at Broadway.; 212-253-0810
The poet queen of punk reads from her book Just Kids: From Brooklyn to the Chelsea Hotel, a Life of Art and Friendship, about her fabulous, rocky friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Kwame Dawes with Vampire Weekend
Barnes & Noble; 1/21 at 7 p.m.; 33 E. 17th St., at Broadway., 212-253-0810
The Ghana-born poet, who just won an Emmy for his documentary on HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, joins preppy songsters Vampire Weekend, whose highly-anticipated sophomore album Contra came out this week. 1) Free admission + 2) Three sold-out VW shows this week = Get in line early.
The Rumpus Anniversary Event
Broadway East; 1/21 at 7 p.m.; 171 E. Broadway., nr. Rutgers St.; 212-228-3100
It’s been a year since the launch of the online culture magazine The Rumpus. Join their (literary) blowout anniversary celebration, which includes readings by Rivka Galchen, Tao Lin, Deb Olin Unferth, Justin Taylor, and editor Stephen Elliott. With musical guests Alina Simone and Diane Louvel, and special guest DJ Khaela Maricich of The Blow.
Nick Flynn
BookCourt; 1/22 at 7 p.m.; 163 Court St., nr. Pacific St., Boerum Hill, Brooklyn; 718-875-3677
The cult hit memoirist (and husband of the indie queen Lili Taylor) reads from his latest, The Ticking Is the Bomb, a hard-hitting work about childhood, fatherhood, and the author’s obsession with torture, which led him to Istanbul to meet some of the Iraqi men depicted in the infamous Abu Ghraib photos.