The V Side: Something for diners, drinkers and poets

Wow, Summer’s over. You can tell by all the great stuff happening around town. The V Side brings you these offbeat entertainment options for the weekend, from NolaVie.

Michael Martone: an author who charms audiences

Thursday / Rollicking readings: Michael Martone, author of 12 books (including Double Wide, Racing in Place and Flatness and Other Landscapes) and, we hear, something of a cult figure in literary circles (is there such a thing?), celebrates the birth of a new book – Four for a Quarter — with a release party from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Antenna Gallery, 3161 Burgundy Street. A staunch enemy of boredom, Martone’s readings are often punctuated by anecdotes, calls for audience participation and general tomfoolery. He’ll be joined by writers Christopher Hellwig and Michael Lee, who together form the literary duo The Brothers Goat. Who said that literary types were dull? Not us.

Friday/ Verse-atile: The 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series continues with a reading by poet and essayist Mark Folse – who also was one of the winners of the NolaVie 2011 Creative Writing Contest – on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at The Gold Mine Saloon, 701 Dauphine St. As Folse himself tells it, he began writing seriously only after the 2005 Federal Flood of New Orleans, when he launched a blog called The Wet Bank Guide that was picked up by French National Radio, National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Time and even David Simon, who cited it as one of his sources for the HBO Series Treme. NolaVie recently published one of Folse’s poems. Read it here.

Friday / Bronze age: All things Indian will be celebrated at Friday’s Where Y’Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art, in conjunction with the museum’s new exhibition of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain bronzes (read about it on NolaVie here). Bengali painting, poetry and dance, sitar music and a classical Indian voice performance by Dr. Guy Beck of Tulane University take place at the museum in City Park from 5 to 9 p.m. The entertainment is free with museum admission.

Friday / Getting reel: New Orleans’ own Queen of Rare Groove, DJ Soul Sister, introduces a midnight screening of Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy, on Friday at the Prytania Theater. The soul diva will offer trivia game giveaways before the showing of the comedy classic.

Friday-Saturday / Jazzing it up: The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra launches the new season with guest star Gabriela Montero , the hot young Venezuelan pianist known as the Queen of Improvisation for her inspired interpretations at classical performances. She also was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration. She will perform with the orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the First Baptist Church, Covington, and at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. Tickets start at $20; purchase them online here.

Gabriela Montero: known for improv

Saturday / Foodies unite: The culinary side of the Crescent City is the focus of NolaLoyola 2011: Live to Eat, an all-day event of panels, discussions and presentations that celebrate the way New Orleanians love to eat. The fun starts at 9 a.m. in Monroe Hall at Loyola University (registration starts at 8 in the Monroe Library) and continues into the evening with a keynote session at 7:30 p.m. featuring Ti Martin of Commanders Palace, Leah Chase of Dooky Chase and JoAnn Clevenger of Upperline. It’s free and open to the public.

Saturday / A drunkard’s dream … So, can you tell a Covington Pilsner from a Spaten Franz Dunkle? Put your hops to the test at New Orleans on Tap, where more than 200 varieties of beer will be offered from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, near the boathouse in City Park. The giant beer bash, presented by the Bulldog and the Louisiana SPCA (with proceeds going to the latter), also will have music, food, prizes and non-beer drinks (but who wants that?). Beer samples start at $1 each.