If you're lucky enough to be in New York, then October is going to be a brilliant month for you — the Center for Fiction is putting on a whole month of science fiction and fantasy discussions, in honor of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. It's all part of "The Big Read," a month-long program focusing on a single book.

And the month's discussions include:

• Anna North, Charles Yu and Kathleen Ann Goonan on utopia and dystopia on Oct. 3
• a panel discussion on "why fantasy matters," with Lev Grossman, Kelly Link, Felix Gilman, Laura Miller and Naomi Novik, on Oct. 5
• A talk by Margaret Atwood on Oct. 12
• A group of young-adult authors on the roots of young-adult fantasy, on Oct. 13
• N.K. Jemisin, David G. Hartwell, Michael Swanwick, John Wray and Ellen Kushner discussing Le Guin on Oct. 19
• A live reading of the Earthsea cycle, on Oct. 20
• A panel on "outsiderness" in SF/fantasy, including Samuel R. Delany, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Andrea Hairston, Steve Berman and Carlos Hernandez, on Oct. 24
• a discussion of the earliest roots of fantasy, including John Crowley and Elizabeth Hand

It's all free, except for the Margaret Atwood talk. [via Genreville]