Culture in brief: Montclair Literary Festival begins tomorrow

Succed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival, the third one, began this week on Wednesday, March 20, and will run through Sunday, March 24. The main day of the festival is Saturday, March 23, with events taking place simultaneously in different spots of First Congregational Church, 40 South Fullerton Ave., the auditorium of the Montclair Public Library, classrooms at the library, 50 South Fullerton Ave., and the Montclair Art Museum, 3 South Mountain Ave. Writing workshops will take place on Sunday, March 24, at Succeed2gether’s office, Community Service Building, 11 Pine St.

Many events are free but a few are ticketed; for details visit succeed2gether.org.

Everything looks terrific. Here are just a few of our picks:

Thursday, March 21

The Sopranos Sessions, TV critic Alan Sepinwall discusses the show’s artistry, on its 20th anniversary, with Dalton Ross. 7 p.m., The Annex, 22 Frink St. Ticketed event.

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READ: PANEL TO DISCUSS 'SLAVERY'S DESCENDANTS' AT LITERARY FESTIVAL

READ: MONTCLAIR LITERARY FESTIVAL; A FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AND IDEAS

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Friday, March 22

Montclair Poetry Slam for Middle and High Schoolers with M.C. Vincent Toro and guest poets, 6 p.m., The Sanctuary, First Congregational Church.

Poetry Café, wine and poetry, 8:30-10 p.m. Watchung Booksellers, 54 Fairfield St.

Saturday, March 23

Location, Location, Location! Alice Elliott Dark, Sergio de la Pava, Pamela Erens, and Estep Nagy examine the role of place and setting in fiction. 10 a.m., FCC Sanctuary.

Slavery’s Descendants, Dionne Ford, Karen Branan and Rachel Swarns discuss race and anthology of same name. 10 a.m., FCC Guild room.

YA author book signing, with Gayle Forman, Arvin Ahmadi, Gae Polisner. 11:30 a.m., The Classroom, Montclair Public Library.

In Putin’s Footsteps, Craig Unger and Nina Kruscheva look at contemporary Russia with David Pepper. 12:15 p.m., FCC Sanctuary.

Creating Stories from Visual Information, with Christina Baker Kline and Fiona Davis. 12:15 p.m., FCC Guild Room.

Found in Translation, with Ann Goldstein, Damion Searls, Emma Ramadan and Michael Reynolds, moderated by Garth Risk Hallberg. 1 p.m., FCC Sanctuary.

Pitchapalooza! The Book Doctors, author David Henry Sterry, agent Arielle Eckstut, agent Daniel Greenberg, editor Hilary Redmon, and publicist Gretchen Koss give feedback to book pitches.  2:45 p.m., The Auditorium, Montclair Public Library.

Writing Ourselves-Moving to Memoir, Benilde Little talks with memoirists Dani Shapiro, Nell Painter, and Jonathan Santlofer. 2:45 p.m., FCC Sanctuary.

Writing New Jersey: Unique Challenges, Unique Stories. With N.J. writers Thomas Pluck, Jen Conley, Wallace Stroby, Dave White, and Maria Antropow Cramer. 4 p.m., FCC Crescent Room.

Funny Pages, with comedians Selena Coppock, Andrew Bayroff, Corinne Caputo and Anthony Kapfer. 5:15 p.m., FCC Crescent Room.

Joyce Carol Oates talks with Jonathan Santlofer about her latest novel, “Hazards of Time Travel,” and about memoirs. 6:30 p.m., FCC Sanctuary.

Festival Party, meet the authors, support Succeed2gether. 7:30 p.m., FCC Guild Room.

Sunday, March 24

Memoir, with Montclair Local’s Steph Auteri, “how to tell personal stories without being disowned by friends and family.” 10 a.m.

Writing a YA novel in an age of activism and explicitness, with Marc Aronson and Candy Cooper. 11:30 a.m.