Three things of note this week. One: the Poets Laureate have inundated the area! Two: U of T presents the latest art festival in Toronto, and Three: Dan Misener strikes again.

Tuesday, March 4th:

To celebrate the release of her latest work Mistress Of The Sun (a tale of Louise de la Vallière, consort to Sun King Louis XIV), novelist Sandra Gulland will model an elaborate seventeenth century-style gown designed by Susan Dicks and then peel it off layer by layer, while being interviewed by Nathalie Atkinson of The National Post. A This Is Not A Reading Series event.
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom. 7pm. Free.

Acclaimed author Linda McQuaig presents her most recent book, Holding the Bully's Coat, which exposes Canada's role in Afghanistan and in the US empire. Following the program, Linda will be available for a book-signing (books will be for sale throughout the evening). Others speakers include representatives from the Afghan community in Toronto and the Canadian Peace Alliance.
Steelworkers' Hall. 7-9pm. $5 or PWYC.

Lyn Hamilton and Rick Blechta will be reading in the last of a six-part series featuring Canada's top crime writers, presented in association with Crime Writers of Canada.
Casa Loma. 7:30pm. $12.

The Art Bar Poetry Reading Series welcomes Robert Boates, John Allemang and Bill Howell to the stage tonight.
Clinton's. 8pm. Free.

Come on out for the Coffeehouse Cabaret Open Stage featuring music, spoken word, and comedy, hosted by Shawn Sage.
Renaissance Cafe. 9pm (sign up is at 8:30pm). Free.

Wednesday, March 5th:

The Rowers Pub Reading Series presents Christopher Doda, Katherine Govier, and Jeanette Lynes at this month's installment.
Brass Taps (new location for March only). 7:30pm. Free.

The Frank Iacobucci Centre in Italian Canadian Studies, in collaboration with Wilfrid Laurier University Press, invite you to an evening with Francesco Loriggio, presenting The Last Effort of Dreams: Essays on the Poetry of Pier Giorgio Di Cicco.
Madden Auditorium, Carr Hall, St. Michael's College. 7:30pm. Free. RSVP (acceptances only) to 416-926-2345 or email: italian.studies@utoronto.ca.

U of T Bookstore Reading Series presents an evening of conversation with Jim Lebans, award-winning producer at Quirks and Quarks, and author of the book The Quirks & Quarks Guide to Space, with Bob McDonald, CBC's science reporter, author, and Quirks and Quarks host. A question and answer period with the audience will follow the interview.
Innis Town Hall. 7:30pm. Free.

Nicolas Dickner (author of Nikolski), Maureen Jennings (The K Handshape), and Beverley Stone (No Beautiful Shore) will read from their new novels tonight, as part of Harbourfront's International Reading Series.
Harbourfront Centre Brigantine Room. 7:30pm. $8.

Join This Magazine and celebrate the launch of their special March/April Disaster Issue. Music from DJ's Woodward & Bernstein. Prizes from Coach House Books, Yoga Centre Toronto, Mint Records, ECW Press, Queen Video, Front Door Organics and more.
The Magpie. 8pm. $5 (includes a copy of the issue).

Thursday, March 6th:

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and U of T Bookstore are pleased to announce participation in the inaugural U of T Festival of the Arts, which celebrates a rich range of creative talent across all three campuses during three weeks this month. Featuring readings by an outstanding line-up of authors including 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner Dr. Vincent Lam, Marina Nemat, Alissa York, and poet Edward Carson.
Innis Town Hall. 7:30pm. Free.

Sina Queyras, author of Lemon Hound, and Laynie Brown, author of Drawing of a Swan Before Memory, at Mark Truscott's Test Reading Series.
Mercer Union, A Centre for Contemporary Art. 8pm. Free.

Friday, March 7th:

Enjoy an evening of poetry and spoken word at this month's Cryptic Chatter, featuring slam poets extraordinaire Spencer and Ontario Freewill. Stick around for the open mic session and Q&A period for the featured performers after their sets. There will be a prize awarded to the Most Impressive Open Mic-er, chosen by secret ballot. To sign up for the open mic, please e-mail me before the date, or on the date arrive early. Hosted by Valentino Assenza.
Renaissance Cafe. 7:30pm. $5.

Julie Wilson, Peter Richardson (Sympathy for the Couriers) and Steve Venright (Floors of Enduring Beauty) are reading at this week's IV Lounge Reading Series.
IV Lounge. 8pm. Free.

Sunday, March 9th:

Rhoda Rabinowitz-Green presents her newest novel Moon Over Mandalay, a light-hearted battle of the sexes played out against a backdrop of the just-passed sixties, the pervasive whiff of marijuana and sounds of The Beatles, The Who, the Grateful Dead.
David Mirvish Books. 2pm. Free.

Monday, March 10th:

The York University English Department presents Language on Edge: A Conversation with Rachel Zolf. Zolf will read from her recent work, including Human Resources and her chapbook Shoot and Weep, and discuss the influence of psychoanalysis on her poetics.
York University, 201 Stong College. 2:30pm. Free.

Brick Books gathers some of Canada's top poetry talent with Coast to Coast to Coast: On the Road with Two Poets Laureate, a cross-Canada literary tour. Poets Laureate Agnes Walsh (St. John's) and Lorri Neilsen Glenn (Halifax) will stop in Toronto to read from their poetry collection, along with Toronto's current Poet Laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco and Poets Laureate Liz Zetlin (Owen Sound) and John B. Lee (Brantford).
Ben McNally Books. 8pm.

Your childhood writing + a room full of strangers = fun. Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids is an open-mic evening of grownups reading things they wrote as kids -- poems, book reports, and diary entries.
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom. 8pm. Free.