Helen Benedict is a Columbia journalism professor and the author of The Lonely Soldier, a nonfiction account of women in the Iraq War that became something of a touchstone for how civilian readers understood female veterans' experiences. This talk centers on her fiction work carrying similar subject matter — soldiers coming home, the gap between what happened and what can be said about it. It's a book talk, not a panel, which means you get a sustained read and a Q&A rather than five people talking over each other for ninety minutes.

These events tend to run tight — an hour, maybe ninety minutes. Arrive a few minutes early if you want a seat with sightlines to the reader rather than a folding chair behind a column. Most venues doing free literary programming will have books for sale at the door; bring cash if you want a signed copy without the card reader delay at the end.

If you have two hours: get there on time, stay for the full Q&A. The questions after a solo author talk are usually where the actual conversation happens.