ART

SOMETHING TO BRING HOME The annual Affordable Art Fair features more than 70 exhibitors offering contemporary art ranging in price between $100 and $10,000, with 75% of works priced at $5,000 or less. The fair opens with a Wednesday opening night benefit to raise funds for the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America. The School of Visual Arts presents a series of weekend lectures including “First Steps: Beginning and Developing Your Art Collection” and “The Paper Chase: Collecting, Owning and Preserving Works on Paper,” and the Children’s Museum of the Arts holds various children’s art workshops. Tomorrow, 6 p.m. opening night benefit, fair begins on Thursday, noon–5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon–8 p.m., Sunday, noon–5 p.m., the Metropolitan Building and the Altman Pavilion, 125 W. 18th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-255-2003, fair admission $15 general per day, $10 students and seniors per day, $50 benefit tickets in advance, $75 at the doors.

FAMILY

WOOF FOR NEW YORKERS While Cathleen Schine reads from her book “The New Yorkers: A Novel” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), city dwellers are invited to bring and play with their dogs. The novel follows the life of a tight-knit Upper West Side community and the important role that dogs play in it. A contributor to the New Yorker magazine, Adam Gopnik, leads the reading. Saturday, 1 p.m., Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd Street, 212-534-1672, free.

FILM

GREAT MINDS WORKING Lajos Koltai’s “Evening” (2007), written by novelists and screenwriters Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham, follows the story of a mother as she relates a memory of lifechanging love to her daughters for the first time. The cast includes Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and Vanessa Redgrave. Ms. Minot and Mr. Cunningham, who penned the novel and screenplay “The Hours,” are on hand to discuss their screenwriting partnership after a special preview screening of the film. Tonight, 7:30 p.m., Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St. at Amsterdam Avenue, 212-875-5600, $25 general, $20 members.

PHOTOGRAPHY

DANGEROUS SITUATIONS Mischa Bar-Am is considered by some to be Israel’s most prominent photographer. His latest retrospective of works is presented in conjunction with the Magnum Photo Festival. In The New York Sun on June 7, William Meyers wrote that Mr. Bar-Am has “a talent for dramatic composition, a determination to find the truth in a situation, and a predisposition for irony.” Selections include “Parade, Beer Sheva” (1973), above. Through Friday, June 29, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Andrea Meislin Gallery, 526 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, suite 214, 212-627-2552, free.

POETRY

VERSES UNDER THE STARS The Academy of American Poets and the Bryant Park Restoration Project host the “Word for Word Poetry” series, an ongoing (in its third year) outdoor program of readings on the green. Tonight, poets Jon Woodward, Jeffrey Harrison, and Peter Gizzi read from recently published work. Mr. Gizzi reads from his fourth collection, “The Outernationale” (Wesleyan), which seamlessly bridges experimental writing and accessible verse in addressing themes such as love and the decline of America. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., through Tuesday, September 11, dates and times vary, Bryant Park Reading Room, 42nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, rain venue: Barnes & Noble, 555 Fifth Ave. at 46th Street, free. For complete information, go to bryantpark.org/calendar.

SOIRÉES

FRESH FACES The New York Foundation for the Arts presents Flashpop, a benefit art auction designed to support the city’s young and emerging artists. Artists include Betty Woodman, Carolee Schneeman, Carter Kustera, Zana Briski, and Rene Cox. Tonight, 7 p.m., Location One, 1 Greene St., between Canal and Grand streets, 212-366-6900 ext. 207, $100 in advance, $115 at the doors.

TALKS

PREPARING FOR 2008 A Democratic political consultant and a senior fellow at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, Robert Shrum, discusses his latest book, “No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner” (Simon & Schuster), as part of the Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue. Tonight, 6 p.m., NYU Wagner School, the Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St. at Houston Street, free. RSVP at wagner. nyu. edu/events/noexcuses. php.

NECESSARY BOOK REVIEWS As part of is ongoing “Campaign to Save Book Reviews” series, the National Book Critics Circle and the New York Center for Independent Publishing host a discussion featuring a variety of panelists for whom the issue has proved to be pressing. In recent years, readers have watched as the book review sections of newspapers across the country have been slashed or shrunk because of budget cuts and changes in the way books are consumed Among the featured speakers are the publisher of Seven Stories Press Dan Simon; the owner of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Sarah Mc Nally, and the editor of the One Story literary journal, Hannah Tinti The president of NBCC, John Freeman, is moderator of the panel. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen Library 20 W. 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-764-7021, free.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.