The PEN Pod: Navigating the Debacle in Afghanistan with Ayad Akhtar and George Packer
“Everyone who essentially used the opportunity of the last two decades to try to build a decent, better society for themselves and for Afghanistan are now under threat.” More
The PEN Pod: On PEN Belarus, Book Bans, and Vaccine Misinformation with Suzanne Nossel
“Book bans are alive and well, and that they move with the culture. They tend to crop up as a battleground in connection with culture wars.” More
The PEN Pod: The Path Forward with Theodore Johnson
“I don’t know that we can ever erase [structural racism] completely. But we can certainly reduce its impact. . . and I think national solidarity is our best hope… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Ricardo Wilson
“People come to fiction for so many reasons that I only really feel qualified to answer for myself. I come to a practice of reading for the same reason… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Katie Kitamura
“I see the imprint of the author in the book in other ways that are to me more interesting and intimate: in the movement of their mind, in the… More
The PEN Pod: Queering an Epic Tale with DREAMing Out Loud’s Arjun Dhawan
“In terms of migrant literature, the migrant voice, there’s something bubbling that needs to be said, that needs to be heard, that’s unbiased. A story that you’ve never heard.” More
The PEN Pod: On Platforms, Policing, and Protests with Suzanne Nossel
“As a defender of free speech, I believe those protections shouldn’t stop at the locker room door, and that athletes should be entitled to voice their opinions.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Nawaaz Ahmed
“I think the power of words also comes from what we seek through them, how we make them ours, how we use them to represent something we otherwise cannot… More
The PEN Pod: On the Healing Power of Writing with DREAMing Out Loud’s Nicole Henry
“Writing is really just powerful. Putting words to paper, whether it’s fiction or fact, it’s just a great way to work through some stuff.” More
The PEN Pod: On Vaccine Misinformation, the Capitol Insurrection, and Crackdowns on Journalists in Russia
“It’s extremely important to get [the Capitol insurrection] down as a first draft of history that cannot be wished away or ignored.” More
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NEW BOOK: The Sentences That Create Us draws from the unique insights of over fifty justice-involved contributors and their allies to offer inspiration and resources to create a thriving writing life behind bars—and shared beyond the walls. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1766-sentences-that-create-us @PENamerica
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This week, the Indian-run administration of Kashmir shut down the Kashmir Press Club, which had emerged in recent years both as a space for journalists to work and for them to express solidarity with colleagues facing pressure from the government. https://wapo.st/3rLaeHo
