The Writing Lives Series

Colm Tóibín is the author of many bestselling and critically acclaimed novels, including The Master (which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize) and Brooklyn; the short-story collection Mothers and Sons; and, most recently, both the novel and play The Testament of Mary (which will open on Broadway later this spring, starring Fiona Shaw).  Julie Orringer is the author of the short-story collection How to Breathe Underwater, which won the Northern California Book Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a “Best Book” by the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2011, she published her “expertly crafted” and “emotionally haunting” first novel, The Invisible Bridge.  Together, they will discuss the topic of “Family Novels" with Deborah Cohen, Professor of History at Northwestern and author of the forthcoming historical study Family Secrets.