Tack on the words "surprise guest" to a holiday event's description, and who comes to mind? Well, maybe St. Nick won't actually be at the Lansing area Haslett Library that day, but all things holiday themed will be, from sweets and treats to traditional Christmas music. Given that it's a library, this will still be a learning experience; the instruments on which the music will be made will be defined for the audience, while the fun of live reindeer and the aforementioned cheese, crackers and baked goods will be ready and waiting.

Christine Rhein
Art Reach Center (CMU)
319 S. University, Mt. Pleasant
Dec. 7, 7 p.m.
christinerhein.com

You know you've made it when you've heard the dulcet tones of Garrison Keillor reading your poetry. That moment has come for Christine Rhein, next in line at CMU's Wellspring Literary Series. Rhein, who lives in Brighton, recently released Wild Flight, which won the Walt McDonald First-Book Competition in Poetry. Wild Flight is, in broadest terms, about the world, from war-torn Europe in the 1940s to pop culture in America. Both humorous and historical, Rhein's poetry takes readers around the world and back home to Michigan, where she's at her most comfortable, and the writing brings her audience comfort all the while.