Welcome to 2008. As you groggily peer past champagne-heavy eyelids, you may be met with a piercing light — but don’t be alarmed. That’s just another year of Calgary’s literary brilliance peeking over the horizon!

This month, the flywheel reading series is invaded by the Calgary Typos (variously known as the Calgary Typing Club, the Calgary Typographic Society, the Calgary Typostammtisch... you get the idea). Experimental poet derek beaulieu and Janine Vangool of the UPPERCASE Gallery team up with fellow typophiles in an interactive literary event, where live, impromptu verse is hammered out on typewriter. Plus, the limited edition, autographed flywheel poster, designed by Sandy Lam, will be up for auction. Don’t miss the latest instalment of the always-scintillating flywheel series when it hits McNally Robinson (120 8 Ave. S.W.) on January 3, 7 p.m.

In Ruby Tuesday, the latest book in the Eddie Dancer detective series, Eddie faces perhaps his most bizarre case yet. When Paul Menzies, an out-of-shape, unemployed ad executive, intervenes in a domestic dispute at the bank, he’s charged with assault. To get the charges dropped, Paul proposes a rematch: three rounds, mano a mano, winner takes all. Author Mike Harrison reads from his latest novel at McNally Robinson on January 8, 6 p.m.

S. Sora Fraser’s new novel, From Walter to Elizabeth, follows a German man born between the world wars, through his service in the German armed forces to his postwar emigration to Canada. Join Fraser for a journey through politics, violence and gender identity at McNally Robinson on January 10, noon.

Though it has been abundantly covered elsewhere in this magazine, I’d be a sorry literary columnist if I didn’t mention Sylvia Plath Must Not Die, the newest creation by the One Yellow Rabbit performing ensemble, debuting this week at the High Performance Rodeo. Directed by Blake Brooker and starring Denise Clarke, Andy Curtis, Onalea Gilbertson and Michael Green, this performance takes the poetry of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, two of the 20th century’s most influential literary figures and brings it to life on the stage of the Big Secret Theatre, January 8 to 12. Visit www.oyr.org for more information.