Are you a poetry fan? Jane Rosenberg LaForge (my wife) and three other New York area writers -- Lisa Marie Basile, Britt Gambino and Jim Meirose -- will present a free evening of poetry and fiction this Saturday in Chelsea. Jane is promoting her second chapbook, "Half-Life," from Big Table Publishing. It is drawn on experiences with cancer in her family (her mother died in November 2009 and her sister in July 2010, while many of these poems were being written and revised). (I wrote last year about Jane's first chapbook, "After Voices," now in its second printing, about growing up with a deaf father.) About the other writers: Lisa Marie Basile has published a chapbook, "White Spiders,'' and her full-length poetry collection, "A Decent Voodoo,'' will come out in 2012. (She's on Twitter.) Britt Gambino's work has appeared in anderbo.com and DecomP. Jim Meirose is the author of "Crossing the Trestle,'' a new collection of fiction from Burning River.

All will read from their work from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at a free event at Sparks Art Center, 161 West 22nd St., in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan (just off Seventh Avenue, handy to No. 1 train). The art space is under the green awning in a building shared with a tile shop (the former Sparks Cafe).

Books will be available for purchase, and a quick reception with the authors will follow the readings. You can also order copies of Jane's book here.