Edmund White on Gay Fiction
Once AIDS came along in 1981, gay writers were encouraged to back off from writing sex scenes. We weren’t supposed to awaken any sense of backlash against gays who… More
Zeyar Lynn Reads Two Poems
I have not written my history ... They have written my history, then they have airbrushed me from history. More
Zadie Smith: Dead White Authors and Political Identity
I never felt the need to defend the books I liked. Whatever is the best writing, as far as I can tell or feel, that’s what I’m interested in. More
The M Word Stories: Omar Etman
What does it mean to me to be Muslim in America? I think it means needing to be exceptional to be accepted, which is tiring. More
Galway Kinnell: Nuclear Threat and Poetry
Poets, just like everybody else, have suppressed thoughts about this subject. And no wonder, because it is a subject that, the more you think about, the more hopeless you… More
Natalie Scenters-Zapico: Because They Lack Country
2017 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry winner Natalie Scenters-Zapico reads her poem "Because They Lack Country" at the 2017 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony, with musical accompaniment by Ernesto… More
Scene from Suzan-Lori Parks’s Play “Topdog/Underdog”
Actors Matthew J. Harris and Tyrone Mitchell Henderson perform a scene from playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' play "Topdog/Underdog". More
Blanche Cook on Freedom of Information
"It’s really a question of censorship and political rights on every single level." More
The M Word Stories: Hana Esa
Being a Muslim woman in America means defying misconceptions on a daily basis. My hijab is my superhuman cape. More
Amos Oz Reading at the 48th International PEN Congress
"Having to read it to you in English translation feels rather like making love through a blanket." More
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