MARTHA LEAR, author of "Where Did I Leave My Glasses?" will read from and sign copies of her book, Monday, 7 p.m., The King's English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East.

GREGORY FRANZWA, author of "The Mormon Trail Revisited," will present an illustrated lecture highlighting the Mormons' 1400-mile trek from Iowa to Utah, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South.

SEBASTIAN LIPINA, international expert on the impact of poverty upon children's cognitive development, will deliver a lecture Tuesday, 7 p.m., Gore Auditorium, Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business, Westminster College, 1840 S. 1300 East. A reception will precede the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in the faculty lounge in Foster Hall.

JABARI ASIM, poet, playwright, fiction writer and author of "The N Word: Who Can Say it, Who Shouldn't and Why," will deliver the Dewey Lecture, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Nancy Tessman Auditorium, Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South. The lecture is free to the public, and tickets are available at all city library locations. Tickets for an author's reception before the lecture may be purchased for $40 each at the Library Store and includes priority seating for the lecture.

MAUREEN DOWD, prominent New York Times op-ed columnist and author of "Are Men Necessary? When the Sexes Collide" and "Bushworld, Enter at Your Own Risk," will deliver commentary on the presidential election, Saturday, noon, Sundance Resort. Advanced reservations required. Tickets, $90 each, include the lecture, brunch and an autographed copy of one the author's books. Tickets do not include alcohol and gratuities. Call Sundance Activities Desk, 801-223-4567.

LADIES NIGHT at Deseret Book will be held, Saturday, noon-8 p.m., floor 9, Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 15 E South Temple. Authors appearing to sign copies of their books include: JOHN BYTHEWAY, ROBERT MILLET, BRAD AND RUSSELL WILCOX, SIMON DEWEY, KENNETH COPE, MATTHEW RICHARDSON, ALEX BOYE, GREG OLSEN, ANDREW SKINNER, S. MICHAEL WILCOX, MELANIE AND ROGER HOFFMAN, EMILY FREEMAN, MICHAEL MCLEAN, AMANDA DICKSON, ANNE OSBORN POELMAN, CHIEKO OKAZAKI , WENDY ULRICH, JUDY COOLEY, NANCY MURPHY, BEVERLY CAMPBELL, MERCY RIVER, TAMI GIRSBERGER and CARMEN RASMUSEN.

THE ASSOCIATION FOR MORMON LETTERS announces its 2007 awards:

COKE NEWELL, for best novel, "On the Road to Heaven"; ANN DEE ELLIS, for best Young Adult Novel, "This is What I Did"; LISA TORCASSO DOWNING, best short fiction in Sunstone; CAROL CORNWALL MADSEN for best biography of Emmeline B. Wells; TODD ROBERT PETERSON, Marilyn Brown Unpublished Novel award for "Rift."

VIRGINIA SMITH, a local author, was honored as the 2008 Writer of the Year by the Mount Hermon's 39th Annual Christian Writers Conference. Her books include, "Just as I am," "Murder by Mushroom," "Sincerely Mayla" and "Stuck in the Middle."

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E-mail: dennis@desnews.com