By Colette Bancroft
Times Book Editor
Bestselling author Chanel Cleeton (When We Left Cuba) will discuss and sign her new novel at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Oxford Exchange, 420 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Tickets $5, applicable to book purchase, at oxfordexchange.com/pages/calendar.
The fifth annual SunLit Festival presents these events, which take place in St. Petersburg unless otherwise noted. For more information, go to sunlitfestival.org.
Thursday: Kickoff Party with food, music, speakers and performances, 7-9 p.m. at the Chihuly Museum, 720 Central Ave. Tickets $35.
Saturday: Downtown Tour With a Literary Twist is a two-hour walking tour starting at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 175 Fifth St. N. Tickets $10, reservations at preservetheburg.org/event-3248993.
Ekphrastic Performance inspired by "Quest: A Celebration of Glass," with writers and poets performing ekphrastic interpretations drawn from Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey and the art in the exhibition, 2 p.m. at Florida CraftArt, 501 Central Ave. Free.
Children's Poetry Night Hike lets kids read poetry related to wilds of the night at 7 p.m. at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way S. Tickets $5 for ages 3 and up.
Sunday: Wordier's 1K Walk and Write (or Read) is part 1K, part writing workshop, part silent read-in, part walking tour and part pub crawl. Starts at 1:30 p.m. at the Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge, 540 First St. SE, and goes to the Ale and the Witch, with 15-minute stops at various points along the way for free writing or reading. Tickets $20.
Monday: Author Talk with Paul Wilborn, executive director of the Palladium Theater, discussing his new collection of short stories, Cigar City: Tales From a 1980s Creative Ghetto, about the Ybor City arts scene in the 1980s. Photographer-filmmaker David Audet, whose images appear in the book, will also speak, at 5:30 p.m. at Mirror Lake Library, 280 Fifth St. N. Free.
Tuesday: Howl: A Night of Poetry and Music, hosted by Friends of the Jack Kerouac House, is an evening of live music and a reading of Allen Ginsberg's Howl. Musical acts will be the Florida Boys, Grant Peeples and Ronnie Eliot; readers will include Bob Devin Jones and Peter Meinke. 7-10 p.m. at Old Key West Bar and Grill, 2451 Central Ave. Free.
Wednesday: Creative Loafing's Fiction Contest Award Ceremony features readings by the finalists and announcement of the winners of the annual contest at 7 p.m. at CL Space, 1911 N 13th St., Tampa. Free.
Safety Harbor Writers Conference offers workshops with instructors that include Steve Persall, Walt Belcher and Gloria Munoz. $125 for all activities. 10 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday. Safety Harbor Arts and Music Center, 706 Second St. (727) 269-9719.
East Lake Community Library's Authors Showcase presents novelist Steph Post (Miraculum) discussing and signing her books at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. 4125 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor. (727) 773-2655.
Events are free unless otherwise noted. To place an item in Book Talk, send author's name, book title, appearance time, date, venue name and address, admission cost (if any) and a contact phone number to cbancroft@tampabay.com (with "Book Talk" in subject line) or Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Deadline is 14 days before publication.