Friday 5/2: Veronica Roth (author of the Divergent series), Aleksandar Hemon (The Lazarus Project, The Book of my Lives), and Steven Conrad (screenwriter of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) are guests of The Interview Show. Hosted by Mark Bazer. The Hideout, 6:30 p.m.
Megan Stielstra is attracting a lot of literary attention in the city, and she’s in Andersonville to promote her gripping personal essay collection Once I Was Cool (Curbside Splendor) at Women and Children First Books, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 5/3: Chicago’s Biggest Liar Contest features a night of eleven of the city’s top storytellers, including reigning champion, Don Hall, at Ravenswood United Church of Christ, 6:15 p.m.
It’s Free Comic Book Day at Quimby’s, where some of Chicago’s best comic book artists will be on hand to draw your “true inner self.” It’s a free event, with refreshments provided by CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo). Quimby’s, 7 p.m.
Sunday 5/4: Uday Prakash talks about his book, The Walls of Dehli, a collection of three tales about “living and surviving in today’s globalized India.” Prakash will be in conversation with Jason Grunebaum, the book’s translator. City Lit Books, 3 p.m.
Monday 5/5: Wendy Doniger’s Hindus: An Alternative History has won several awards in India and also created enough controversy to make Penguin India cease publication of the book. Doniger discusses her work in conversation with Leela Gandhi (no audio or video recording permitted) at Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 6 p.m.
Tuesday 5/6: The Wit Rabbit Reading Series presents Jake Hinson, Elizabeth McDermott, Willy Nast, Toni Nealie, and Karen Shimmin at Quencher’s Saloon, 7 p.m.
The first Tuesday of the month means Tuesday Funk in the upper lounge at Hopleaf. Gapers Block presents an eclectic array of fiction, poetry, and essay. Hosted by Andrew Huff and Eden Robins. Hopleaf, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday 5/7: Poetry Foundation presents 2013 National Book Award finalist Adrian Matejka, whose work is included in the January 2014 issue of Poetry. Poetry Foundation, 7 p.m.
Thursday 5/8: John W. Evans reads from and discusses his memoir, Young Widower, the story of his wife’s tragic and gruesome death in the Carpathian Mountains and his confrontation with grief and survival. City Lit Books, 6:30 p.m.
