Marlon James, Emily St. John Mandel among Atlanta author events this month

Say goodbye to summer with an abundance of September events you won’t want to miss, including Stephen Berry talking about his biography on a remarkable Black freedom fighter; Emily St. John Mandel returning with a novel of doubles and shadow worlds; and bestselling author Harlan Coben giving fans a close-up look at his own writing process in a memoir that doubles as a masterclass in storytelling.

Stephen Berry, “The Original Black Panther: Prince Rivers and the Lost City of Hamburg.” Berry tells the long-forgotten story of one of the most remarkable Black freedom fighters of his age in this first full-length biography. Born enslaved near Beaufort, South Carolina, Rivers was one of the first Black men in Union uniform and one of the longest-serving men in the Union army, integral to the formation of the United States Colored Troops. He went on to serve as a South Carolina state legislator and as one of the first Black mayors in the United States.

7 p.m. Sept. 1. Conversation. Free-$12. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta. 404-814-4000, atlantahistorycenter.com/events

Hank Phillippi Ryan, “Mother Daughter Sister Stranger.” The sole survivors of a fiery plane crash that killed their parents, two sisters share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the 11th anniversary of the tragedy, one disappears, and the remaining sister discovers she’s the only one who can protect her niece from the horrifying legacy of her family’s sinister history.

6 p.m. Sept. 4. Conversation, signing. Free, or $35.07 includes book. Poe and Company Bookstore, 1890 Heritage Walk, Milton. 770-797-5566, poeandcompanybookstore.com/all-events

Carapace: Dirty Work. Labor Day is on its way, a good time to ponder all the jobs we’ve had and done. Talk about the time you had to muck out the barn, clean some toilets, change diapers, or found yourself up to your elbows in a completely unexpected mess. Or maybe you have a great story about a family member who always gets others to do their bidding? Bring your story and share.

7 p.m. Sept. 8. Oral storytelling. Free. Manuel’s Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-525-3447, facebook.com/CarapaceATL

Odessa Blaine, “Where the Roots Tangle.” Get ready for hardscrabble Southern living, small-town politics, blood feuds, nearly forgotten folkways, family legacy, and the mythology of Appalachia in Blaine’s debut Southern Gothic novel about a woman whose childhood friend is murdered in 1929.

6:30 p.m. Sept. 10. Book launch, conversation. Free, or $25.80 includes book. Poe and Company Bookstore, 1890 Heritage Walk, Milton. 770-797-5566, poeandcompanybookstore.com/all-events. Also appearing: 2 p.m. Sept. 27. Conversation, signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events/calendar/2026/09

Thomas Levenson, “A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines.” An urgent and profound history of vaccine skepticism that seeks to understand how our three most common fears about vaccines hardened into a lethal ideology. Levenson is a science writer and author of “Newton and the Counterfeiter.”

7:15 p.m. Sept. 10. Discussion. Free. Virginia Highland Books, 1034 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 470-819-4705, vahibooks.com/events/2026/09

Harlan Coben, “Plot Twist: Life, Craft, and the Messy First Draft: A Memoir on Writing.” Bestselling author Coben offers a look behind the curtain at his own writing process in a memoir filled with insights and techniques. Part memoir, part masterclass in storytelling, it’s an honest look at the life of a writer whose stories have thrilled us for decades. With Karin Slaughter.

7:30 p.m. Sept. 10. Conversation, signing. $46.50 includes book. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org/our-programs/arts-authors/book-festival/upcoming-events/

"The War Within A War," by Wil Haygood

Wil Haygood, ”The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home.” Award-winning author and journalist Haygood explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans — fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home — and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life. Drawing on the lives of soldiers and officers, doctors and nurses, journalists and activists, artists and politicians, Haygood illuminates a generation caught between two battles: one on the front lines in Vietnam and another for justice and dignity in America.

7 p.m. Sept. 16. Conversation. Free-$12. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta. 404-814-4000, atlantahistorycenter.com/events

Poetry @Tech Presents: The Bourne Poetry Reading with Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Oluwaseun Olayiwola. In National Book Award 2025 finalist Calvocoressi’s latest collection, “The New Economy,” poems are haunted by the ghosts of loved ones and childhood memories, by changing landscapes and bodies. Poet, choreographer, critic, and performer Olayiwola’s debut collection, “Strange Beach,” illuminates the body as a porous landscape across which existential dramas, filial fractures and sexual reckonings occur.

5:15 p.m. Sept. 17. Reception, reading, signing. Free. Ehmer Theater, John Lewis Student Center, Georgia Tech, 351 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta. 404-894-2730, poetry.gatech.edu/events/

Marlon James, “The Disappearers.” James (“Black Leopard, Red Wolf”) returns with an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s-1990s in his novel about the murder of a gay man and its tragic consequences.

7 p.m. Sept. 18. Conversation. Free-$37.28. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairemont Ave., Decatur. 404-373-1653, charisbooksandmore.com

Rhonda McKnight, “Writer in Residence.” An author facing a crushing case of writer’s block and a looming deadline that threatens to end her career accepts a lifeline: a writer-in-residence position in the South Carolina Lowcountry, where she finds a profound connection to the Gullah Geechee culture — a heritage she never fully understood until now.

2 p.m. Sept. 20. Talk. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events/calendar/2026/09

"The Henchperson's Guide to Unionizing" by Marshall J. Moore

Marshall J. Moore, “The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing.” In Moore’s story, a doctor and his laboratory assistant are driven out of town by a pitchfork-wielding mob to an isolated manor only to find the place is already home to a vampiric count and his unhappy bride — a witch and her feline familiar. When the doctor and the count turn out to have a plan to bring on Armageddon, the other three must unite to stop their masters from destroying the world.

7 p.m. Sept. 21. Talk. $21 includes book. Eagle Eye Book Shop, 2076 North Decatur Road, Decatur. 404-486-0307, eagleeyebooks.com/events/2026/09

Susan Neiman, “Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era.” Moral philosopher Neiman shows how naming and confronting evil is essential for preserving democracy in an age of demagogues. Her book offers a reckoning with one of the most fraught words in our vocabulary, and she opens this work with the idea that the reelection of Donald Trump is the outcome not simply of political and economic forces but the erosion of values that have been subject to derision for more than a century.

7 p.m. Sept. 21. Conversation. Free. Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-3070, georgiacenterforthebook.org/events

Elizabeth Alexander, “Signals Across Vast Distances: Essays and Tales.” Prize-winning poet and champion of the arts and humanities Alexander gives us lessons from culture and life to move through challenging times. In close readings of visionary and beloved poets and writers — Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and June Jordan, among others — Dr. Alexander meditates on how words and values can sustain and inspire us, interweaving her voice with revelatory works of art by some of our most extraordinary visual artists. In conversation with poet Jericho Brown.

7 p.m. Sept. 25. Talk, signing. Free. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, 441 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events/84155

Emily St. John Mandel, “Exit Party.” The award-winning, bestselling author of “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility” returns with a novel of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines as a man disappears from a glittering Los Angeles party, and a woman — a gunrunner, an art collector, an operative of the State — searches for answers. Talk is sold out, but space is available in signing line. See link for more details.

2:30 p.m. Sept. 28. In-store signing. $32 includes signed book. A Cappella Books, 208 Haralson Ave. NE, Atlanta, 404-681-5128. acappellabooks.com/pages/events/1516/emily-st-john-mandel-exit-party-in-store

Sarah McCoy, ”Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?” From bestselling author McCoy comes a novel based on a true story: a beautiful young movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age ditches a promising film career to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a Benedictine nun.