The PEN Ten with Sean Wilsey

Suddenly seeing myself as a writer-of-facts changed the way I looked at reality—so it was sort of a double-edged occasion. Guaranteed impediment to having a good time: knowing you'll… More

The PEN Ten with Jean Kwok

After hearing from readers who told me how the book touched and influenced them, I realized that what I say does have an impact. Of course, I need to… More

The PEN Ten with Harvey J. Kaye

My lifelong hero—ever since I was a boy—is Thomas Paine, the American Revolutionary and radical-democratic pamphleteer. I would love to be identified with his words, words such as “The… More

The PEN Ten with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Fidel Castro as the measure of all things. Why is it that no Latin American writer, after almost a century of tradition with the so-called “novels of the dictator,”… More

Thai Freedom: We Can’t Breathe

He was speaking in code, of course, as many Thais do when discussing Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code that states: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King,… More

The PEN Ten with Amanda Vaill

I'm still surprised to answer "I'm a writer" when people ask me what I do. I wrote as a child—pages of what we would probably call fan-fiction today, extensions… More