What I Would Like to Hear
“I hear a Kawasaki ZRX and a strumming of a bass guitar coming from a few houses down and someone speaking Spanish as I turn the page to the… More
Supernova (Excerpted Pieces)
“The one person who is always there for me is not there. I feel that I face the world alone. I stand on the outside: I'm not like the… More
A Golden Partnership
These dual essays were written by Elizabeth Hawes and Jeffrey James Keyes, 2020 honorees for the PEN America/L’Engle-Rahman Prize for Mentorship. More
The PEN Ten with Elizabeth Hawes
"While we cannot force people to absorb or connect with our words, we can write and know that we plant seeds and the garden will come." More
The Glitter Squirrel in Me
"You / bring out the Glitter Squirrel in me / The reading dreamer / The yearbook’s class clown / The nacho-eating Twin’s fan" More
Double Secret Probation: The Two-Week Paper Blog
I have 73 weeks left of prison, and if I pass the two-week probation period, I plan to ride it out here, even though the copier frightens me. More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
NEW: We welcome the launch of PEN Belarus’s report, “Monitoring of Violations of Cultural and Human Rights Against Cultural Workers,” which documents the persecution of writers, artists, poets & other cultural figures between January & September 2021. https://bit.ly/3G0YBm0
