Playwrights John Patrick Shanley, John Guare, Eric Bogosian, Stephen Adly Guirgis and graphic novel author Jonathan Vankin will all take part in the discussion, which is titled "A New Literacy." The 9 PM evening will, according to a press release, seek to answer such questions as: "Is fiction these days written simply as a pretext for a future screenplay? Where, exactly, does one find enthusiasm for the written word today? In the vast universe of the corporate-controlled written word, has the romantic notion of artistry been lost?" John Patrick Shanley recently received the Pulitzer Prize for Doubt, which is now playing Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre. John Guare is the author of Six Degrees of Separation and House of Blue Leaves. Eric Bogosian's works include Talk Radio and SubUrbia, and Stephen Adly Guirgis has penned Jesus Hopped the A Train and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Also a publisher, Jonathan Vankin has written "Vertigo Pop! Bangkok" and "The Witching."

The discussion will be held in the Celeste Bartos Forum of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Tickets, priced at $10, can be purchased by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com.