PEN World Voices Festival: Edwidge Danticat on how “a story is never really yours”
Edwidge Danticat spoke to John Freeman about how stories are community property, what it means to write for others, and finding a sense of home in Haitian art and… More
PEN World Voices Festival: A Night of Prayer and Meditation
The desired effect—of evoking a religious service—was, by my accounting, achieved. As I sat, I felt my pulse slow. The setting, and the task at hand—giving ourselves over to… More
PEN World Voices Festival: The “Proustian Orgasm” of Memoir and Memory
Michael Ondaatje, Luc Sante, and Tracy K.Smith discussed the memoirs that most influenced their own writing and the prickly task of turning family stories into compelling literature. More
The PEN World Voices Festival As It Happened: “Divine Punishment”
There were moments on the panel when Ramirez and Caistor spoke like old friends. They talked about meeting for the first time at the Managua Book Festival in 1986.… More
The PEN World Voices Festival As It Happened: “Armenian Genocide: A Dark Paradigm”
The event was not a bleak centennial memorial but rather an inspiring commemoration of Armenian authors who continue to endure through the cultural lives of their work. More
PEN Workshop Series: Innovate Publicity Now
During the inaugural workshop in PEN’s new Workshop Series we were joined by publicists Katie Freeman, Lisa Vanterpool, and Lauren Cerand, who spoke about how to work with an… More
Combating the Multiplying Challenges to the Right of Free Expression
Journalists—traditional targets of authoritarian governments who want to limit their watchdog role—are being killed in record numbers. At least 61 were murdered in 2014 alone. More
Onslaught on Free Expression Intensifies in Turkey
In the latest onslaught on free expression, the government of Turkey made international headlines this month when it again went head-to-head with internet sites Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Google… More
Remembering Günter Grass (1927-2015)
PEN American Center mourns the loss and celebrates the life of German PEN member, honorary PEN president, and Nobel Laureate Gunter Grass, who died on Monday, aged 87. More
Remembering Eduardo Galeano (1940-2015)
PEN American Center is deeply saddened by the passing of Eduardo Galeano, one of Latin America's most iconic writers and famed for his journalism, novels, and political satire… More