The late British journalist Christopher Hitchens claimed in a controversial 2007 Vanity Fair article that women aren’t funny. Or at least not as funny as men. His near-diatribe – largely supported by a more than 100-year-old Rudyard Kipling poem and Hitchens’ observations of motherhood – came across as a laughable afront to a number of women who cite “women aren’t funny” as a persistent stereotype nearly 20 years after the article.

In a panel discussion moderated by Julie Vick, the author of Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?), those women discuss their work and the various obstacles and assumptions they face as (serious) humor writers. Joining Vick:

• Mia Mercado and Emily Farris are Kansas City-based writers. Mercado is author of Weird But Normal and She’s Nice Though, and her work also has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Cosmopolitan, and other national outlets. Farris’ first essay collection, I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes is set for release in February, and she contributes to Bon Appetit, Taste, Elle Décor, and The Daily Beast, among other outlets.
• Kristen Mulrooney lives near Boston and is the co-author of Gilmore Girls: The Official Cookbook, a contributor and editor for The Belladonna, and a contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s.