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 

Charges Against Turkmen Writer Dropped

After having spent the large majority of the past two years in exile, novelist, historian, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent and 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award winner… More

Interview: Clifford Barnes

QUESTION: What was the spark that made you begin writing in prison? When did it occur?CLIFFORD BARNES:I didn’t begin writing in prison. I wrote as a youngster, not just… More

Interview: Zachary Redfearne

QUESTION: What was the spark that made you begin writing in prison? When did it occur?ZACHARY REDFEARNE: A writing workshop by Naropa University was a big motivational booster.Q: Can… More

How She Penetrates

According to family lore, there was a great bonfire in which all of Jane’s possessions perished. Her journals, her clothes, her scrapbooks, her books, her typewriter, her school papers,… More

Realist Fiction

Last night, in a biker bar, I overheard two men discussing what distinguished “realist” fiction from more “experimental” work. Although one shouldn’t generalize, I never expect bikers to be… More

Etgar Keret & George Saunders

I was amazed by your stories, by the quality and quantity of imagination, and the unbelievable overflow of ideas. So I wanted to ask a question that’s probably unfair.… More