An Apology

In the most recent issue of the PEN America journal, we published an excerpt of the poem “WHEREAS” by Layli Long Soldier under the title, “To Exhaust a Horse.” This was a… More

Life

Randy had run out of cigarettes again, and it was killing him. Not a goddamn one of them was working anymore; and the mother had died in the spring… More

On Fear

I think FDR had it right, as he did so many things, that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—the fear of participating fully in our… More

On Fear

When FDR said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he also said, “Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.” I… More

Editor’s Note

The first annual PEN World Voices Festival brought together 125 writers from around the globe for a week of intense conversation about language, culture, crime, catastrophe, death, sex, religion—the… More