The Contra Costa Jewish Book Festival will kick off its 18th year Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. with a reception and a presentation by Rich Cohen, author of “Sweet and Low.”

Professor Dorothy Shipps will run the workshop “The State of Education in America” on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 10:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. “King of the Hill” writers Judah and Murray Miller will speak later that evening at 7 p.m.

Elizabeth Rosner, author of “Blue Nude,” will speak at 4 p.m., Monday Nov. 6; Jack Marshall, author of “From Baghdad to Brooklyn: Growing Up in a Jewish-Arabic Family in Mid-Century America,” will speak Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 10 a.m.; Ruth Andrew Ellenson, author of “The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt,” will speak Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

German Consul General Rolf Schuette will speak at a screening of “Bonhoeffer” on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.; Michael Wex, author of “Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods” will speak Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

There will be an artisans and authors’ holiday fair with crafts, books and Judaica on Sunday, Nov. 12, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Jim Lebenthal, author of “Confessions of a Municipal Bond Salesman” will speak Monday, Nov. 13 at 12 p.m. and David Margolick, author of “Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmelling and a World on the Brink” will speak at 7:30 p.m.

Cara Black, author of “Murder on Montmarte,” will speak Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. and Adam Harmon, author of “Lonely Soldier: The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army,” will speak Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

The festival will last through Nov. 15 and all lectures will take place at the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center, 2071 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Call (925) 943-5238 for reservations and more information.