Fall literary lights

California Lectures’ seventh season includes two major literary stars to speak at the Crest Theatre this fall: Man Booker Prize-winning British novelist A.S. Byatt and American novelist John Irving. Byatt kicks off the series on October 22, roughly the same time that her most recent novel, The Children’s Book, is due in stores. Irving will grace the stage on November 5. He is perhaps best known for the film adaptation of his novel, The Cider House Rules, for which he wrote the screenplay and won an Oscar. Irving’s latest novel, Last Night in Twisted River, will also be published in October. Season tickets for the series, which also includes lectures by nonfiction writer Abraham Verghese, editor in chief of Gourmet magazine Ruth Reichl, and National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon, are on sale now. Single tickets for Byatt and Irving cost $30 and $35, respectively. More information about the lectures and tickets is available at the California Lectures Web site at www.californialectures.com, or by calling (916) 737-1300.