Leah Hager Cohen, the author of four novels including The Grief of Others and four works of narrative nonfiction including Train Go Sorry, is the Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross and a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review. Jim Shepard is the author of six novels, including Project X, and four story collections, including the National Book Award finalist Like You’d Understand, Anyway and You Think That’s Bad, released April 2011. Following readings from Shepard and Cohen, Marilyn Sides, professor of English at Wellesley College, moderated a discussion. The event took place as part of Distinguished Writers Series at Wellesley's Newhouse Center for the Humanities in March 2012.