Bookweek: McSweeney's Voice of Witness -- Sudan

The McSweeney's Voice of Witness book series seeks to illuminate human rights issues by compiling the stories of people who have been in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Previous books include stories from those wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, survivors of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and the narratives of undocumented immigrants. The newest book, "Out of Exile: Narratives from the Abducted and Displaced People of the Sudan," includes writing by, among others, Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng, who collaborated on "What is the What." Editor Craig Walzer will be at the Central Library's ALOUD lecture series on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss the book.

Other picks:

On Tuesday, Michael Cunningham ("The Hours") will read at the Hammer Museum at 7 p.m. There's also a special listening party for "And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl" on Tuesday night -- we'll have more on that later. On Wednesday at 7p.m., Laura Miller ("The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia") will be in conversation with books editor David L. Ulin at the Central Library ALOUD series. Actor Robert Wagner will be signing his autobiography "Pieces of My Heart" at Diesel bookstore in Brentwood on Thursday at 7 p.m.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo of Sudanese students by Nite_Owl via Flickr.