The central theme of the event is visions of the city in fiction through the lens of the four panelists: Richard Price, Maureen Howard, Jonathan Franzen, and Doris Jean Austin. Topics addressed by the panel include - What can a novel tell us about a city, and what, in turn, can a city do to writers of novels? Does writing about a city force a writer to be more concerned about larger ideas regarding society? What is the literary tradition for an American author writing about place? Howard observes that in her novels the city is equal to the characters. Price discusses approaching writing about the city in various ways—as metaphor, or with nostalgia. Franzen notes his interest in what makes a city function. Austen touches on the discomfort of leaving the city to visit a rural or suburban area.
