The talk gets real, and really good, this week.

Maura's Three for the Week, 3/25-3/31

Charleston, we need to talk. Let’s engage in exchanges that jump from prose pages. Fire up dialogues that go well beyond words. Belly up to a book bar to have a glass and chew the cultural fat. The back-and-forth with very fine minds is beyond the pale in this city these says, so, by all means, get talking.

On a related note: Now that I’ve wrapped up at my former arts beat, get ready for Culture South’s ramp up—with a slew of think pieces, reviews and more coming from me and other culturati committed to keeping the arts front-and-center in the South.

Brave scary talk with thriller scribes at a local brewpub

The Porter Room at Holy City Brewing, 1021 Aragon Ave., in North Charleston, March 28, 7 - 9 p.m.

Itinerant Literate Books has its mind on crime. The bookstore is hosting Tarryn Fisher, author of psychological thrillers The Wives, The Wrong Family, and most recently Never, Never (with Colleen Hoover), who will parse words on her latest novel, Good Half Gone. She’ll be in conversation with local best-selling author Stacy Willingham (A Flicker in the Dark, All the Dangerous Things and Only If You're Lucky), meeting minds on their new books and talking all things thriller.

For tickets, click here.

Dive into ‘Dialogues: Independent and Intertwined’

The Space, 2147 Heriot St., #F, in downtown Charleston, March 30,  7 p.m.

Spanning chamber music and contemporary art, this double-hitter duo event is all about the conversation. For starters, New Muse Concerts presents music by Giaocchino Rossini, Johann Pachelbel, Libby Larsen, Edgar Meyer, and John Cage, with the cello, performed by Claire Marie Solomon, and the double bass, performed by Mary Reed, representing voices both singular and intertwined to tell a story. At the same time, photographers Caroline Knopf and Mark Stetler, owners of The Space, have curated a group salon-style exhibition of local artists in connection with the program.

For more information, visit @thespacecreates on @newmuseconcerts, both on Instagram.

Join the bar book banter at the new Philosophers & Fools

Philosophers & Fools, 50 Bogard St., St. A in downtown Charleston

Charleston just welcomed a new bookstore bar, adding to its respectable roster of independent booksellers in the city, and more than a few bars, too. Philosophers & Fools happens to be around the corner from me, so naturally I popped by to find a curated selection of tempting titles, cozying up to convivial bar. Its friendly, literature-besotted owners, toasties and hot and cold beverages are already reeling in well-read tipplers.

For more information, visit philosophersandfools.com.

Bonus: Check your sonic cred at The Sound of Charleston

Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. in downtown Charleston, March 27 at 7 p.m. (repeating every Wednesday through May 22)

Can you talk the talk on Charleston-connected sounds? Get a crash course from gospel to Gershwin at the long-running The Sound of Charleston. The current program includes Rhapsody in Blue performed by Ghadi Shayban and Maida Libkin; gospel spirituals sung by Lowcountry legend Ann Caldwell; Charleston Symphony principal clarinet Charles Messersmith playing light classics and much more.

For tickets, visit soundofcharleston.com or call 843.270.4903.