Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape
Lauret Savoy is a finalist for the 2016 PEN Open Book Award. This excerpt from her book of interconnected essays traces memory, geology, and human history. More
Bastards of the Reagan Era
Reginald Dwayne Betts's collection of poems, a finalist for the 2016 PEN Open Book Award, turns a critical eye to the harsh realities of American society and its treatment… More
Forest Primeval: Poems
A series of poems from Vievee Francis's poetry collection, Forest Primeval, a finalist for the 2016 PEN Open Book Award. More
Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey
Beauty is the ultimate democracy, because a beautiful thing, particularly if it exists in nature, belongs to everyone. More
Two Poems by Javier Zamora
Don has always been the wrong word. Not Don: / redacted addresses, .38s, clips in back-pockets. / To see how many he’ll kill, his grandson / throws rocks at… More
The PEN Ten with Yuri Herrera
"The writer’s responsibility cannot be dictated by any party, politician, sponsor, or cleric. If it is possible to talk about the responsibility of the writer, it is to be… More
A Brief Account of Several Art Events and Other Horrifying Experiences
Have you noticed how all the Mexican poets now / have their little poem about the violence? No? You don’t / read poetry? More
The Book Report: Jeff Shotts
"Contemporary American poetry is experiencing an extraordinary wave of first books that are expanding our conceptions of what poetry is and what it means to be human." More
Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
"Rain and two more of its wondrous pride—clouds and rainbows—have inspired writers, painters, and poets for thousands of years. Homer’s Iliad is thick with clouds, as is much of… More
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