It's a remarkable literary February we have in front of us, a wide-ranging smorgasbord that includes a Man Booker Prize winner, a poet whose controversial verse cost him a job, a mystery writer whose sleuths are cats and the editor of the Paris Review.

Also finding their way to Western Pennsylvania this month are the authors of a best-seller on a ecological fantasy, an account of one day on Earth, winner of a Pittsburgh fiction prize and several award-winning poets.

The activities start tonight with Rita Mae Brown, creator of the popular Sneaky Pie Brown crime series. Sneaky Pie, a cat, is Brown's co-author in this 16-book set, the latest being "The Purrfect Murder" (Bantam, $25).

Sans Sneaky, Brown talks tonight at 7 at the Oakmont Public Library. Sponsored by Mystery Lovers Bookshop, her appearance benefits Animal Friends. A sampling of furry adoptees from the shelter will be there to accompany Brown. Cost is $5; 412-828-4877.

• Tomorrow: Poet Ellen Bass opens the spring season of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Oakland, at 8:30 p.m. Her latest collection is "The Human Line" (Copper Canyon Press). Presented by the English department of the University of Pittsburgh, the event is free; 412-624-6508.

• Friday: Amiri Baraka, poet, playwright and outspoken critic of America's power structure, headlines a tribute to Langston Hughes. Baraka lost his post as New Jersey poet laureate over his controversial poem, "Someone Blew Up America," in the wake of Sept. 11.

Presented by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Hughes Poetry Society, the event includes dinner and a book signing at 6 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel, Oakland. Tickets are $65; 412-657-8900.

• Sunday: Authors of two recent nonfiction works speak at 1 p.m. at the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, 237 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Greensburg. Michael Sims, a Greensburg resident, discusses his nature book, "Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination." Joining him is Edward Larson, author of "A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800."

Cosponsored by Ligonier Valley Writers Association, the program is free, but registration is suggested by calling 724-837-5620.

• Feb. 11: An anthropologist at Boston University, Jenny White moonlights as a writer of mysteries set in Turkey. "The Abyssinian Proof" (Norton, $23.95) is her newest and brings her to Mystery Lovers Bookshop, 514 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont, for a Turkish-style dinner at 6 p.m. Cost is $18; 412-828-4877 or 1-888-800-6078.

Others visiting Mystery Lovers this month: Eliot Patterson, Feb. 12; Leighton Gage, Feb. 15; Rosemary Harris, Feb. 23; and Lisa Scottoline, Feb. 28.

• Feb. 12: "The World Without Us," published last year, ruminated on how Earth would change if humans were missing. Author Alan Weisman discusses his conjectures at Washington & Jefferson College's Olin Fine Arts Center at 7 p.m. Free; 724-223-6507.

• Feb. 12: Pitt writing professor Cathy Day discusses her memoir, "Comeback Season" (Free Press, $24), at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2705 E. Carson St., South Side, at 7 p.m. She is author of "The Circus in Winter," a 2004 short-story collection. Free; 412-381-3600.

• Feb. 13: Poetry, sound and movement are the tools of performance artist Eden McNutt's trade. The founder of Dust & Feathers, a Pittsburgh improvisational group, he appears at 8 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon's Visiting Writers Series in the Adamson Wing, Baker Hall, on CMU's campus. Free; 412-268-2850.

• Feb. 15: Poets Sheryl St. Germain and Patricia Jabbeh Wesley will read at 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. The Autumn House Press is presenting the program as part of its Master Poets Series. Free; 412-381-3600.

• Feb. 18: Best known for her V. Warshawski crime-novel series, Sara Paretsky has branched out to include nonfiction with discussion of civil liberties in "Writing in an Age of Silence" last year and a literary novel this year, "Bleeding Kansas." She appears in the Drue Heinz Lectures at 7:30 p.m. in the Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland. Tickets: 412-622-8866.

• Feb. 19: The friends of Michael Wurster, founder of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange, poet and teacher, honor him with a new book, "Stories About Time," in a 7 p.m. ceremony in Te Cafe, 2000 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. Edited by Arlene Weiner and Ziggy Edwards, the book is a collection of poems from the Pittsburgh community and will be on sale; 412-422-8888.

• Feb. 19: Novelist Cris Mazza reads from "Waterbaby" (Soft Skull Press, $14.95) at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Mazza is author of more than a dozen works of fiction, including "Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?"; 412-381-3600.

• Feb. 22: Last year's Drue Heinz Prize winner for fiction, Kirk Nesset, and poet Heather McNaughter read at Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery, 5051 Penn Ave., Garfield, 8 p.m. $5 at door. It's sponsored by Autumn House Press; 412-381-4261.

• Feb. 27: Philip Gourevitch became editor of the Paris Review in 2005, inheriting the 50-year legacy of George Plimpton. Gourevitch, this year's William Block Sr. Writer for the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series, speaks at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Oakland, 8:30 p.m. Free; 412-624-6508.