Gardens of Verse Are Popping Up All ‘Round : The Poetry Shop in Thousand Oaks has ongoing events and there will a reading at Cafe Voltaire in Ventura.

Storytellers and poets will be performing this week at Barnes & Noble, Cafe Voltaire, Adventures for Kids and the Ojai Table of Contents.

And J.P. Gorham, director of the Conejo Valley Poetry Society, has alerted us to ongoing events at The Poetry Shop, 1321 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. a poetry discussion group meets, followed by open readings; at 8 p.m. Thursdays, storytellers gather; at 9:30, the audience joins in spinning yarns; at 8 p.m. Friday, a featured poet reads.

Every month, the Conejo Recreation and Park District sponsors poetry hikes led by Gorham. Call 496-POET.

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Satya Gratner and Jim Kotsybar will read poetry tonight at 8 at Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Sign-up for the open readings begins at 7:30 p.m.

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At 1 p.m. Saturday in Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, William Relling Jr. will sign his first mystery, “Deadly Vintage,” about an ex-Treasury agent who owns a vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley.

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Kim Carlsberg, who claims she has experienced abduction by aliens, will sign her book, “Beyond My Wildest Dreams,” at 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura. The book includes illustrations by UFO researcher Darryl Anka.

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Adventures for Kids sponsors summer story times at 3 p.m. Saturdays and at 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays at 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura.

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Child development specialist Kate Russell will read to children about children and nature at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Ojai Table of Contents, 208 E. Ojai Ave.

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Mary Scott, a published poet and columnist, will present her poetry at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble. Open readings will follow.

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On July 26, 1873, Lorenzo Roberts failed in his attempt to stake out a section of his five-acre farm to create a town called Ojai, according to the Ventura County and Coast Almanac.