Author T. C. Boyle will headline the 24th annual Writers Week Feb. 6-10 at the University of California, Riverside, which once again features an impressive lineup of novelists, essayists and poets.

"He's one of those writers that is not only a writer of great literary fiction but also crosses over and is a popular best-seller," said Christopher Buckley, chairman of the UCR Creative Writing Department. "It's hard to get him for a reading. This is certainly a rare appearance. We are very lucky for that."

There also will be readings by well-known poet Edward Hirsch and by Cristina Garcia, a novelist whose work is infused with the experiences of being Cuban American.

"Lots of different cultures and aesthetics are presented," Buckley said. "We're real conscious of trying to have some representation that reflects the diversity of voices that is California especially."

The writers are chosen by the department faculty members, who have far-reaching contacts.

"There is no one we decided to call up out of the blue because they had a famous name. Everyone is known to someone on our faculty," he said.

The faculty members are novelist Susan Straight, who is a recipient of Guggenheim and Lannan Foundation fellowships; Maurya Simon, who has written four books of poetry and who received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts grant for 2000; Buckley, who has written 11 books of poetry and received his second NEA grant this year, and Gary Soto, author of 30 books and a National Book Award finalist.

Writers Week is the largest literary event in the Inland area and one of the oldest in the state. It is funded by the UCR College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and by grants from the California Arts Council and Poets Writers Inc.

The free day and evening events include question-and-answer sessions following readings. Audiences range from 40 to more than 200.

All but one of the readings will take place on campus. Buckley has established a collaboration with the downtown Riverside Public Library so that an afternoon of readings will be held there on Feb. 10, a Saturday.

"It has been well-attended -- an average of 50 to 60 people at the library. It helps put our presence in the community," he said.

Susan Vreeland will read at the library from her award-winning novel "Girl in Hyacinth Blue." Poet Michelle Boisseau also will read there; she is a "very energetic and accessible poet," according to Buckley.

The headliners:

T. C. Boyle. Author of "Riven Rock," "The Tortilla Curtain," "The Road to Wellville," "East is East," "World's End," "Water Music," "Budding Prospects." His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harpers, The Paris Review, Esquire and The Atlantic Monthly. Boyle teaches in the Creative Writing Program of the University of Southern California. (8 p.m. Feb. 9)

Cristina Garcia. Born in Havana, and raised in New York City, Garcia's first novel, "Dreaming in Cuban," was nominated for a National Book Award. Her second book, "Aguero Sisters," was a New York Times Notable Book. Garcia was bureau chief for Time magazine in Florida and the Caribbean and has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Hodder Fellow. (8 p.m. Feb. 6)

Edward Hirsch. Author of five books of poetry. His "Wild Gratitude" received the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1996. His most recent prose, "How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry," has been a bestseller. He is a MacArthur Fellow and teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston. (8 p.m. Feb. 7)

The schedule:

For recorded information, call (909) 782-2919.

Feb. 6:

2 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- B. H. Fairchild. His most recent poetry collection, "The Art of the Lathe," has received numerous awards: Capricorn, Beatrice Hawley, William Carlos Williams, Texas Institute of Letters and Kingsley Tufts. He also has received fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation.

3:30 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Leslie Brody. She has published a wide range of work: librettos, radio plays, poetry, essays and short stories. Her "Red Star Sister" received the PEN Center USA West Award in 1999 for Best of the West in Creative Nonfiction. She teaches at the University of Redlands.

8 p.m., Watkins 1000 -- Garcia.

Feb. 7:

2 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Mary Helen Ponce. Her books include "Hoyt Street: An Autobiography." She is a book editor for Saludos Hispanos and writes for Hispanic Magazine. She has taught literature and creative writing at UCLA and the University of New Mexico.

3:30 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Fred Dings. Author of two books of poetry, his work also has appeared in The New Republic, The New Yorker, Paris Review and POETRY. He teaches in the fine arts masters program at the University of South Carolina.

8 p.m., Watkins 1000 -- Hirsch.

Feb. 8:

2 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Jervey Tervalon. His debut novel, "Understanding This," won the 1994 New Voices Award from the Quality Paperback Book Club. He is also an award-winning poet, screenwriter and dramatist. His most recent work is "Dead Above the Ground."

3:30 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Eloise Klein Healy. She was grand prize winner of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival Competition and founding chair of the fine arts masters program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She is associate editor/poetry editor of The Lesbian Review of Books. Her most recent book of poetry is "Artemis in Echo Park."

8 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Michael Waters. Author of seven books of poetry, including "Green Ash, Red Maple, Black Gun," he is recipient of a NEA fellowship and two Pushcart Prizes.

Feb. 9:

2 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Michelle Boisseau. Her book, "Understory," received the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize. She also has been awarded an NEA grant and the Lucille Medwick and Cecil Hemley Awards from the Poetry Society of America.

3:30 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Richard Jackson. Author of six books of poetry. "Heartwell" won the 1999 Jupiter Prize from the University of Massachusetts Press and "Alive All Day" won the 1992 Cleveland State University Press Award. Recipient of several prestigious fellowships, he is director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

8 p.m. --, Life Sciences 1500 -- Boyle.

9 p.m., Campus Pub -- Reception.

Feb. 10:

3 p.m., Riverside Public Library, 3581 Mission Ave. -- Susan Vreeland. Her first novel, "What Love Sees," was made into a movie shown on CBS in 1996 and her latest, "Girl in Hyacinth Blue," was on Publishers Weekly Top 25 novels of 1999. She is a high school teacher in San Diego. Also, Michelle Boisseau and Richard Jackson.

8 p.m., Humanities 1500 -- Vreeland.