2020′s book tour circuit headliners include Erik Larson, Susan Choi, and R. Eric Thomas

You could spend a very happy spring taking in the dozens and dozens of literary talks at venues large and small all over town, from the Free Library on the Parkway to Shakespeare and Co. at Rittenhouse Square to Big Blue Marble to Kelly Writers House to Uncle Bobbie’s to Blue Stoop … here’s just a taste. Events are free unless otherwise specified.

John Sayles, Yellow Earth (7:30 p.m. Feb. 10, Parkway Central Library). The celebrated moviemaker comes to discuss his fifth novel, in which Native Americans resist the rapaciousness of governmental and corporate forces. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Carmen Maria Machado (6 p.m. Feb. 10, University of Pennsylvania’s Kelly Writers House). One of Philly’s most acclaimed recent writers, author of Her Body and Other Parties and the memoir In the Dream House. (215-746-7636, writing.upenn.edu)

Saidiya Hartmann (6:30 p.m. Feb. 17, University of Pennsylvania’s Kelly Writers House). MacArthur-winning author of, among other titles, the celebrated memoir Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route. (215-746-7636, writing.upenn.edu)

Margaret Kimberley, Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents (7 p.m. Feb. 20, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books). The author discusses her uncompromising new book, which devotes one chapter apiece to each president and his roots in racial attitudes and capitalism. (215-403-7058, unclebobbies.com)

Sam Sifton, See You on Sunday: A Cookbook for Family and Friends (7:30 p.m. Feb. 20, Parkway Central Library). The food editor of the New York Times with a guide to feeding the folks you like most. Tickets: $15. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing (6:30 p.m. Feb. 26, Doylestown Bookshop). The Guggenheim-winning author discusses his searing study of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. (215-230-7610, doylestownbookshop.com)

R. Eric Thomas, Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America (7:30 p.m. Feb. 27, Parkway Central Library). This erstwhile Philadelphian is now an acclaimed playwright and proprietor of the column “Eric Reads the News” for Elle magazine. This hilarious and pointed book is his debut essay collection. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Sara Nović (5 p.m. March 13, Temple University’s Anderson Hall, Room 821). The Philadelphian author of, among other acclaimed works, Girl at War and America Is Immigrants. (215-204-1796, cla.temple.edu)

Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light (8 p.m. March 17, Zellerbach Theatre). In one of the highlights of the season, the wildly popular historical novelist (Wolf Hall) discusses the latest and final installment in her Thomas Cromwell series. Tickets: $40-$55. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Erik Larson, The Splendid and the Vile (7 p.m. March 19, Delaware Valley University). The Penn grad and award-winning nonfiction prodigy (The Devil in the White City, Dead Wake) presents his book about Winston Churchill in London during the Blitzkrieg. Tickets: $38. (215-230-7610, doylestownbookshop.com)

James Shapiro, Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future (7:30 p.m. April 2, Parkway Central Library). One of our most readable Shakespeareans applies the playwright’s political insights to our present moment. Tickets: $15. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Cody Simpson (6 p.m. April 15, Penn Bookstore). The musician, dancer, actor, and celebrity reads from Prince Neptune, his first book of poems. (215-898-7595, upenn.bncollege.com)

Mark Morris and Wesley Stace, Out Loud: A Memoir (7:30 p.m. April 22, Parkway Central Library). The celebrated choreographer appears with the celebrated novelist, musician, sometime Philadelphian, and his collaborator on the memoir. Tickets: $15. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Natalie Diaz (7:30 p.m. April 22, Bryn Mawr College’s Wyndham Alumnae House). The MacArthur-winning Native American poet and translator visits after the release of her highly anticipated second collection, Postcolonial Love Poem. (610-526-5304, brynmawr.edu/reading-series)

Ottessa Moshfegh, Death in Her Hands (7:30 p.m. April 23, Parkway Central Library). One of America’s finest younger novelists comes to discuss her new one, about an older woman’s journey through uncertainty and challenge. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)

Susan Choi, Trust Exercise, and Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone (7:30 p.m. May 7, Parkway Central Library). A big event. Choi’s National Book Award-winning novel has earned her a rapidly growing audience. And Red at the Bone is the latest adult novel from Woodson, winner of many awards for her poetry and young-readers books. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org)