Who’s in town
Diane Ackerman, a best-selling author, talks about her latest book, “One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing.” [7 p.m., Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto]
Lectures
Solar power: Social entrepreneurs Laura Stachel, of We Care Solar, and Ned Tozun, of d.light, discuss their solar projects that help save lives in developing nations. [6 p.m., Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
John A. Johnson: The astronomer discusses the discovery of planets orbiting tiny red dwarf stars, and what these discoveries might mean. [7:30 p.m., California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, S.F.; RSVP: (415) 379-8000]
Gary Devore: The Stanford archaeologist explores how we continually re-imagine ancient Romans through film. [Noon, Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
Literary events
Two mystery novelists: Hilary Davidson (“The Next One to Fall”) and Brad Parks (“The Girl Next Door”) talk about their whodunits. [6 p.m., Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, S.F.]
Scott Sigler: The novelist and podcaster talks about “Nocturnal.” [7 p.m., Borderlands Cafe, 870 Valencia St., S.F.]
National Poetry Month: Poet Pireeni Sundaralingam hosts the bookstore poetry celebration. Bring a favorite poem no longer than one page — by someone else, not yourself — to share. [7:30 p.m., Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., S.F.]
At the colleges
Nato Thompson: The chief curator at Creative Time discusses the work of some of the most interesting artists and activists working today. [7:30 p.m., San Francisco Art Institute, 800 Chestnut St., S.F.]
At the public library
‘First Monday Movies’: “Morning Glory” (1933), directed by Lowell Sherman and starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., is April’s featured film. [6:30 p.m., Excelsior Branch, 4400 Mission St., S.F.]
Local activities
Violin recital: Classical violinist James Ehnes makes his San Francisco recital debut, joined by pianist Orion Weiss. Works by Mozart, Faure, Bartok and Saint-Saens are on the program. [8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F.]
Theater awards: The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle presents its 2012 awards gala. A reception and a ceremony are on the bill. Comedian Marga Gomez hosts the evening. [7 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., S.F.]
Fooling around: The Picklewater Clown Cabaret presents “April Fools,” a circus-arts show celebrating fools, dolts, doofuses and overall stupidity on this day after April Fools’ Day. [7 and 9 p.m., Stage Werx, 446 Valencia St., S.F.]
Dining out
Starbelly: Chef Adam Timney creates California comfort food and snacks. A seasonal pizza — with roasted butternut squash, sage, black garlic, local chevre and pumpkin seeds — is recommended. [3583 16th St., S.F.; (415) 252-7500]
