The PEN Pod: On The Importance of Centering Marginalized Narratives with Jaquira Díaz
“I would hope that they would find in my story that my story was not unique, that so many of us go through this suffering in silence.” More
The PEN Pod: Writing as Witness with Wayétu Moore
“Representation is important—not just what’s on the page, but who’s holding the pen.” More
The PEN Pod: Looking Through Time with Rebecca Makkai
“Look at the ways that the American healthcare system, in times of crisis, exacerbates the fissures that are already there, the inequalities that are already there.” More
The PEN Pod: Letting Go of Our Illusions with Charles Yu
“This moment and what I think will be the aftermath of it for a long time, is to actually make very real what has felt real for a long… More
The PEN Pod: Creating Inner Worlds with Deborah Feldman
“Use this opportunity to learn to create this rich inner self and this inner world, because later. . . those skills will remain very valuable.” More
The PEN Pod: Singing About Dark Times with Carolyn Forché
“People have always turned to poetry in moments of extremity, because poetry arises—it’s deeply sourced, it’s memorable, it’s musical, and it offers us awareness.” More
The PEN Pod: Conveying Collective Trauma with Brandon Shimoda
“We’re in this moment where we’re all collectively undergoing this extraordinary trauma. . . in a way in which it’s not entirely visible.” More
Community Amid Coronavirus: A Q&A with Counterpoint Press
“Publishers need writers, readers, booksellers, critics, and advocates as much as they need the opportunities publishers provide.” More
The PEN Pod: Rediscovering the Joys of Literature with Bernardine Evaristo
“The characters start to come alive, and in a sense, those characters start to speak to me. . . And that, for me, is the magic of writing.” More
The PEN Pod: Recalibrating Our Priorities with Ruchika Tomar
“The desire that I’m seeing for connection is really heartening, because what we’re doing as writers is responding to human experience.” More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
Facebook, Alphabet-owned YouTube, Twitter, and other social media will for the first time be subject to EU broadcasting rules on hate speech and harmful content under European Commission guidelines announced on Thursday. https://reut.rs/31PTSSF
Egypt’s government is used to stifling press freedom. During Abdel Fatah al-Sissi’s presidency, the country has become one of the world’s most dangerous places to report from, consistently ranking as a top jailer of journalists. https://wapo.st/2O2Q73Z
The Markup breaks down how fake headlines around “Antifa Soldiers” led to a wave of misinformation in Oregon. Deconstructing how it came about exhibits just how easy it is for a fringe conspiracy theory to slip into the system of mainstream online news. https://bit.ly/3ebVBE5