Poet-Professor Soto to Read Works in Orange

Chapman University will present a discussion and reading with award-winning poet and writer Gary Soto at 7 p.m. Monday in Argyros Forum, room 209, on campus, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange.

Soto, whose work has appeared in “The Iowa Review” and “Poetry,” was recognized last fall at the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center in New York. He has sold more than 1.3 million copies of his books and is a distinguished professor of creative writing at UC Riverside.

Soto will sign copies of his books at the end of his talk. For more information, Call Bobbi Fisher at (714) 744-7953.

COMING UP:

* Harry Newman Jr. will read and sign “Turning 21: a Businessman’s Poetic Odyssey to the New Century” at Barnes & Noble, 791 S. Main St., Orange. 7 p.m. Wednesday. (714) 558-0028.

* Gregory Benford will discuss and sign “Nebula Awards Showcase 2000,” a compilation of the year’s best science fiction and fantasy chosen by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. (714) 897-8781.

* Donald Hoffman will discuss and sign “Visual Intelligence” at Barnes & Noble in The Market Place, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine. 7 p.m. Wednesday. (714) 508-9707.

* James Houston Turner will discuss and sign “The Second Thirteen” at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach. 7 p.m. Thursday. (714) 897-8781.

* Barbara DeMarco Barrett will interview Martha Lawrence (“Pisces Rising”) on “Writers on Writing” on KUCI (88.9 FM) in Irvine. 4 p.m. Thursday.

* Violet Woodhouse will discuss and sign “Divorce and Money” at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. 7 p.m. Friday. (949) 759-0982.

* An open microphone poetry reading will be held at Barnes & Noble in The Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine. 7 p.m. Friday. (714) 508-9707.

* Actor-author Thomas Prosser (“Naked Hemingway”) will play the role of Ernest Hemingway in a one-man performance, “The Lost Generation,” at Borders Books and Music in South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. 7 p.m. Saturday. (714) 432-7854. 362-8027.

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Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or e-mail to dennis.mclellan@latimes.com.