Before he became her writing student at Cornell University, author Stewart O’Nan met Lorrie Moore on the printed page in the early 1980s.

Mr. O’Nan, who lives in Edgewood, was startled by Ms. Moore’s first short story collection, “Self Help.”

“Those stories were written in the second person, which is very rare,” he said, adding that her work also made him think about what a story is and what it does.

Mr. O’Nan will introduce his former teacher when she appears tonight at 7:30 in Carnegie Music Hall as part of the Drue Heinz Lectures. He discussed her work because she had strep throat last week and couldn’t do a telephone interview.