The nineteenth annual Chicago Humanities Festival kicks into full gear this week with a long list of panel discussions, lectures, readings, performances and screenings, all of which fall under this year’s theme, “Thinking Big,” and all of which are more or less equally worthy of your time. Some highlights over the next few days: On Saturday New Yorker music critic Alex Ross discusses his award-winning “The Rest is Noise” (2:30pm, Thorne Auditorium) and a distinguished panel moderated by Northwestern’s Bill Savage discusses “The Great American Novel, Revisited” (1:30pm, MCA)…On Sunday author David McCullough (“John Adams”) receives the Chicago Tribune Literary Prize (10am, Symphony Center) and authors Mark Doty and Achy Obejas talk “Queer Lyrics” (3:30pm, Harold Washington Library Center)…On Monday veteran American composer David Amram discusses his life in the film industry (6:30pm, Columbia College)…and on Wednesday there’s a “Great Books Discussion: On the Road” event (5:30pm, Columbia College). And that’s just this week. (Tom Lynch)

The Chicago Humanities Festival runs all the way through November 16 at various venues across the Chicago area; tickets for events are $5 unless otherwise indicated, visit chfestival.org for a complete schedule and event details.