Annabelle Ulaka | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
After completing a story, I show it to people who tell me what the words mean. These people are the readers. More
Sola Mahfouz & Malaina Kapoor | The PEN Ten Interview
In Afghanistan, laughter is as much a part of life as sorrow and pain. People crack jokes while hiding from bombs in basements, finding humor in their grim reality. More
Jo Saleska | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
Are not we all just fleshy, rebellious little sculptures that move about the world, evoke emotion, make impact? More
Patrick J. Zhou | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
I’m a firm believer that to get less and fewer hollow answers, we need to ask better questions. Of ourselves and others. Be gracious and curious. More
Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki | The PEN Ten Interview
Your first big break up, the first loves of your life, are your friends. Those stories are really interesting, meaty stories. More
Faire Holliday | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
I think many of the gray areas that we find ourselves in come from the disconnect between how we think we’re living and how we actually are. More
Clara Mundy | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
I hope that readers consider the subtle ways that power can seep into a person’s life and manipulate their self-image: What parts of ourselves did we only feel ashamed… More
Sonia Feldman | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
Reading gives me the opportunity to think somebody else’s thoughts instead of my own. That’s what I hope my writing might offer to someone else, a respite from the… More
Megan Fernandes | The PEN Ten Interview
My focus was just on the insecurity of being. Everything that happened narratively came from focusing on that feeling as much as possible. More
Stephenjohn Holgate | 2023 PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner
I’m quite interested in the tensions of these things, how we are pulled in many different directions as the different bits of ourselves, musician, worker, lover and so on,… More