Blog

Filter By:

AdvocacyAnalysisBlogCommentaryDramaEssayEventFeatureFictionGraphic NarrativeInterviewMemoirNewsObituaryOpen LetterPoetryPress ReleaseProfile

Browse By Series:

PEN Poetry Series •  Prison WritingThe PEN Ten InterviewsIllustrated PEN • Pen PalsThe PEN World

Browse By Email Subscription:

PEN America NewsEducational Censorship NewsWorks of Justice 

The Road

Everything damp. Rotting. In a drawer he found a candle. No way to light it. He put it in his pocket. He walked out in the gray light and… More

2666

When Rosa fell asleep he took off her high-heeled shoes and covered her with a blanket. He turned off the lights and for a while he stood looking out… More

States of Shock

CHARACTERSColonelStubbsGlory BeeWhite ManWhite WomanStubbs: MY THING HANGS LIKE DEAD MEAT!!! (Pause. White couple turns and stares at Stubbs. The Colonel ignores them. He’s busy taking several toy soldiers, tanks,… More

Once the Shore

One of my fondest memories of Hannah is receiving the “few suggestions” she had for my story “Once the Shore” before it was published in One Story. It was… More

All the Pretty Horses

In his sleep he could hear the horses stepping among the rocks and he could hear them drink from the shallow pools in the dark where the rocks lay… More

Cities of the Plain

Well there was all these jackrabbits in the road. They’d set there and freeze in the lights. Blap. Blap. I looked over at Gene and I said: What do… More

A Glimpse Is All I Can Stand

A Glimpse Is All I Can StandNew Smyrna Beach, Florida1972(Based on a True Story) 1.Mama she say shh.She say shhh.She say, quiet baby. 2.In the beginningit was just meand Lizwith Mommaon… More

Unilaterally Punitive

The United States is unique in the world for its overzealous love affair with life without parole sentences (LWOP). It is one of the few western countries to have… More