Ferlinghetti’s 100th and other big deals

There have been worse times in literature than 1919. Books published that year include Sherwood Anderson’s short-story cycle “Winesburg, Ohio,” “The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon” and “The American Language,” H.L. Mencken’s defense of American English against the “suffocating formalization” of linguistic purists.

One hundred years later, what lasting works will 2019 give us? We’ll just have to see. Several books, though, hold promise, including “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” a fantasy novel (the first in a trilogy) by Man Booker Prize-winning Jamaican author Marlon James (Riverhead Books, Feb. 5); Yiyun Li’s novel “Where Reasons End,” informed by her grief over her son’s suicide (Random House, Feb. 5); “Lost Children Archive,” a novel by Mexican writer Valeria Luiselli that takes on the issue of immigration (Knopf, Feb. 12); and “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” a debut novel — written as a letter to a mother who can’t read — by poet Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press, June 4).

It will also be a year of anniversaries — one a celebration of a legend who’s nearing his 100th birthday.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti at 100: The world-famous San Francisco author and publisher has an autobiographical novel, “Little Boy,” coming out March 19 — just shy of his 100th birthday on March 24. Meanwhile, expect City Lights to host a gathering honoring its founding father. www.citylights.com

“The Handmaid’s Tale” returns: “The Testaments,” Margaret Atwood’s sequel to her landmark 1985 dystopian novel, is due out Sept. 10. The Hulu adaptation of “The Handmaid’s Tale” hasn’t hurt: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday will publish a first-print run of 500,000 copies. www.margaretatwood.ca

Litquake turns 20: The Bay Area literary festival, conceived in a bar as Litstock, returns in October for its 20th anniversary. How will it celebrate leaving behind its teenage years? www.lit quake.org

Bay Area Book Festival: Across the bay, in Berkeley, the Bay Area Book Festival will mark its fifth year, in May. More than 25,000 people attended the two-day festival this year. www.bay bookfest.org “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”: Maria Semple’s 2012 novel is one of the funniest books written in recent years. How will it fare on the big screen? Richard Linklater’s adaptation opens March 22. www.bernadette.film

John McMurtrie is The San Francisco Chronicle’s book editor. Email: jmcmurtrie@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @McMurtrieSF

Jordan Strauss / Invision Margaret Atwood’s sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale” is coming out.