Featuring: Jennifer Maritza McCauley and Dani Shapiro

Moderator: Caylin Capra Thomas

Writing is hard. Writing well is harder. Writing to stunningly high standards in more than one genre is so difficult that the few who can do it are, yes, literary unicorns. Dani Shapiro is a beloved memoirist and an acclaimed novelist. Jennifer Maritza McCauley had already published a well-received poetry collection when her debut book of short stories, When Trying to Return Home, was published last year to immense buzz. What is it that allows these two writers to excel in multiple different forms, and how do the different skills required for each inform the other?