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Ron Lawrence will be the featured poet at Barnes & Noble’s monthly poetry reading Saturday in Encino. Open-mike readings start at 7:30 p.m., followed by Lawrence at 8 p.m. 16461 Ventura Blvd. (818) 380-1636.

Exile Books and Music, 14925 Magnolia Blvd., Sherman Oaks, has Nelson Gary signing and reading excerpts from his book “A Wonderful Life in Our Lives.” There will be poetry readings by Gary, Steve Abee and Lynda Lou Bouch starting at 8 p.m. Friday. $5 cover. Singer-songwriters Lisa Turner and Jennifer Hardaway will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. $5 cover. Sign-ups for the Sunday Open Mike, designed for performers with original material, start at 6 p.m. Songwriters may perform two songs and spoken-word artists get eight minutes on stage. Finally, Amelie Frank and Richard Modiano host the Poetry in Exile reading Wednesday. Featured poets are Robert Wynne and David Cooper. Signups start at 7:30 p.m. (818) 986-6409.

James Marsters, who plays Spike, everyone’s favorite “evil” vampire on TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” will sign his new comic book, “Spike & Dru,” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Dark Delicacies, 3725 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Also, Denice Duff from “Bloodspecies” will sign photos and posters, and Scott Spigel will sign “Dusk to Dawn 2” posters. (818) 556-6660.

Jill G. Waldron and Oktavi will be the featured poets at a Sunday reading at Bookstar, 21440 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills. Signups for open readings start at 6:30 p.m. (818) 702-9515.

The Advocate Players will perform a reading of George Bernard Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books and Music, 9301 Tampa Ave., Northridge. Linda Cowgill, author of “Secrets of Screenplay Structure: How to Recognize and Emulate the Structural Elements of Great Films,” will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Roger K. Leir will discuss his book, “The Aliens and the Scalpel: Scientific Proof of Extraterrestrial Implants in Humans,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. (818) 886-5443.