The at the Memphis Jewish Community Center, starts today at 2 p.m. with a "Meet Local Authors" event. On hand will be ("Shlemiel Crooks"); ("Left Behind in Nazi Vienna"); ("Dewey & Elvis: Life & Times of a Rock 'n' Roll Deejay"); and ("Along the Edge of Annihilation").

The festival continues Monday at 7 p.m., with the screening of the film (2004), a documentary about the children of the Whitwell, Tenn., middle school who try to collect 6 million paper clips to represent the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Limited seating; $6 for adults, $5 students and senior citizens.

The festival's featured speaker, , will discuss her book "After the Apple -- Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing" (Miramax, $12.95) at a luncheon Thursday at 11:30 a.m. She is author of "Wrestling with Angels: What Genesis Teaches Us about Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships" (1995) and leads Bible study groups for senators, congressmen and corporate leaders in Washington and New York. Cost of the lunch is $12 for members of MJJC; $15 nonmembers. Reservations are required by Tuesday. Call 761-0810.

The River City Writers Series presents holder of the Moss Chair of Excellence in the English department at the University of Memphis, reading from his work Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Faulkner Lounge of the University Center. Bausch is author of 16 works of fiction, including the novels "Mr. Field's Daughter" (1989), "Rebel Powers" (1993), "Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea" (1996), "Violence" (1997), "In the Night Season" (1998) and "Hello to the Cannibals" (2002). His short fiction was gathered in "The Stories of Richard Bausch" (HarperCollins, $29.95) in 2003.

Philosopher and bioethicist will deliver a lecture, "Ethics for One World," Friday at 1 p.m. in the Psychology Auditorium at U of M. A reception and book signing will follow.

Called the "most influential" contemporary philosopher by the New York Times, Singer is controversial because of his views on euthanasia and animal rights.

Among his many books are "One World: The Ethics of Globalization," "The President of Good and Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush," "Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics" and "Animal Liberation," the bible of the animal rights movement. Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

BooksmART, the book club at Dixon Gallery and Gardens, welcomes , who will discuss her novel "Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper" (2001) today at 2 p.m. in the Winegardner Auditorium. The novel is an intimate examination, through five paintings, of the relationship between Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and her older sister Lydia, who is dying of Bright's disease. Chessman is author of the novels "Ohio Angels" (2002) and "Someone Not Really Her Mother" (2004). Admission is free to BooksmART and Dixon members; $5 for adults, $4 for those 60 and older and free for students. Call 761-5250.

Davis-Kidd Booksellers and its parent company, The Joseph-Beth Group, have announced the result of a survey of book sellers at eight locations (including Davis-Kidd stores in Memphis, Jackson and Nashville). Book of the Year Awards 2005 go to by Elizabeth Kostova (Little, Brown, $25.95) for fiction; by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow, $25.95) for nonfiction; by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Young People, $16.99) for kids' illustrated book; by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, $29.99) for kids' book not illustrated.

Tuesday at 6 p.m. is a "Girls' Night Out" event with "Southern chick lit" writer , author of "My Heart May Be Broken, But My Hair Still Looks Great" (William Morrow, $19.95). Dixie Cash is the pseudonym of sisters Pamela Cumbie and Jeffery McClanahan, who live in or near Fort Worth.

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