More information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library

This month’s readers are poet Amy Miller and short story and songwriter Craig Wright.

Amy Miller has published poetry widely and won the Cultural Center of Cape Cod National Poetry Competition.

Vincent Craig Wright is a short story writer and songwriter, as well as Professor of Creative Writing at Southern Oregon University and Co-Founder of the Institute of New Writing/Ashland. In addition to journals, he has published a story collection, Redemption Center, published songs for HBO with Megatrax, and performed original music nationally both solo and with his band, Cast of Clowns.

The Windfall Reading Series is sponsored by Eugene Public Library, Lane Literary Guild, Friends of Eugene Public Library, and Eugene Public Library Foundation. Refreshments served at intermission. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 orwww.eugene-or.gov/library.

Saturday, October 24, 3:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive

In the last ten years, Matt Love has written seven books directly inspired by stories originating on the Oregon Coast. His passion to write was fueled by topics including Oregon’s rain; the unique legacy of the state’s publicly owned beaches; the movie of “Sometimes a Great Notion”; caretaking a wildlife refuge to the Yaquina Bay Bridge; and the community of Astoria.

Join Love for an interactive multimedia presentation about his approach to these topics and how he started a publishing company, Nestucca Spit Press, to distribute his works.  Love is the author/editor of 13 books about Oregon. In 2009, he won the Oregon Literary Arts’ Stewart H. Halbrook Literary Legacy Award for his contributions to Oregon history and literature. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.

Monday, October 26, 6:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive

Marja Mills will give a free talk about her book “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee” at the Downtown Eugene Public Library. Admission is free; books will be available for purchase and signing courtesy of the UO Duck Store.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of the best-loved novels of the 20th century. Despite being published 50 years ago, it’s also one of the past year’s most talked-about books, due to Marja Mills’ bestselling memoir “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee” and the subsequent publication of Lee’s own “Go Set a Watchman.”

Mills’ book became a New York Times, USA Today, and National Indie bestseller. It tells the story of Mills’ friendship with author Nelle Harper Lee and her sister, who invited the Chicago Tribune journalist into their lives in 2001. A few years later, with the Lees’ blessing, Mills moved into the house next door. She spent the next eighteen months there, sharing coffee at McDonalds, trips to the Laundromat, feeding the ducks, going out for catfish supper, and exploring lower Alabama with the Lees and their inner circle of friends.

Mills was given a rare opportunity to know Nelle (as her friends call her), to be part of the sisters’ life in Alabama, and to hear them reflect on their upbringing, their corner of the Deep South, and how “To Kill a Mockingbird” affected their lives. Nelle shared her love of history, literature, and the Southern way of life with Mills, as well as her keen sense of how journalism should be practiced. “The Mockingbird Next Door” is a testament to the Lee sisters’ intelligence, wit, and tremendous storytelling power.

Marja Mills is a former reporter and feature writer for the Chicago Tribune, where she was a member of the staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for a 2001 series about O’Hare Airport entitled “Gateway to Gridlock.” Free. Information: 541-682-5450 orwww.eugene-or.gov/library.

In connection with Eugene Opera’s upcoming production of “Turn of the Screw,” a talk by Brendan O’Kelly titled “Fixing Phantoms in Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.”

One of the major figures in 19th century literary realism, Henry James (1843-1916) is perhaps most widely known today for “The Turn of the Screw,” a gothic novella that questions the very concept of reality.  In Benjamin Britten’s adaptation for opera, the ghosts haunting a young governess’ two charges are portrayed as real, but in the original, James’ ambiguous ending and story-within-a-story structure represent one of the supreme examples of indeterminacy in literature.  Brendan O’Kelly is an Instructor in the University of Oregon’s English department.

Eugene Opera’s 2015-2016 season at the Hult Center features four operas based on literary works: “Turn of the Screw” by Benjamin Britten (based on the novella by Henry James); “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti (“The Lady of Lammermoor” by Sir Walter Scott); “Eugene Onegin” by Piotyr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Alexander Pushkin); and “Little Women” by Mark Adamo (Louisa May Alcott). Accompanying events and exhibits will be held at Eugene Public Library, Central Lutheran Church, University of Oregon, and the Lane County Historical Museum. For more information about events at Eugene Public Library: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library. For more information about Eugene Opera: 541-682-5000 or www.eugeneopera.com.

Thursday, October 29, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive

This month’s book is “Hereville:  How Mirka Got Her Sword” by Barry Deutsch.  In this novel, Spunky, eleven-year-old Mirka isn’t interested in knitting lessons from her stepmother, how-to-find-a-husband advice from her sister, or threats from her brother. There’s only one thing she wants: to fight dragons! For grades 4 – 6. Pre-register and pick up the book at the Children’s Center starting October 1. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library

Thursday, October 29, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive

This month’s book is “Jackaby” by William Ritter. In this novel set in 1892, Abigail Rook takes a job as assistant to investigator R.F. Jackaby — and finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case of serial murder, possibly committed by a supernatural being. Fans of “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” will appreciate this first volume in a planned series, brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre. For ages 13 – 17. Starting October 1, visit the Downtown Teen desk to pre-register and pick up your copy. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.