The fourth installment of Writing for Social Change, a reading series run by Historic Joy Kogawa House (1450 West 64th Avenue), takes place Monday night (June 14) and features renowned Toronto author and poet Karen Connelly. In conversation with Kogawa House writer-in-residence Nancy Lee, Connelly will focus on her 2009 book Burmese Lessons, an account of her late-’90s travels in oppressed, conflict-riven Burma and her anxious affair with a local guerrilla leader, all of which served as inspiration for her highly acclaimed 2005 novel The Lizard Cage. You won’t find a more tranquil urban setting for tackling the big issues than Kogawa House, tucked away as it is on a Marpole side street. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation.