from Known and Strange Things
Teju Cole's "Known and Strange Things" is a finalist for the 2017 PEN Jean/Stein Book Award. Here's an essay from the collection. More
2017 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists
PEN America is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2017 PEN America Literary Awards. These shortlists showcase 50 exceptional literary works chosen by our esteemed judging panels. With the… More
How to Eat a Forest: In Two Acts
At times land was sold by the agent/ broker to a relatively poor immigrant, and subsequently offered by the politically connected seller to a prominent national government official. This… More
The Color Purple and the Toppling of American Gods
"In The Color Purple lies the truth, in its pages lie glorious, flammable ideas: how many fires could be lit with the simple, indomitable truth that a Black girl… More
On Translating Miljenko Jergović
Russell Scott Valentino is the recipient of a 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant for his translation of Rod by Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Croatian writer Miljenko Jergović. Read an excerpt of the translation… More
That Which Issues Forth: My Love Affair with Juana I
Ana Arzoumanian's poem cycle, Juana I (Alción Editora, 2006), offers an intimate look at the queen of Castille and Aragon, dubbed mad by her contemporaries for sake of political… More
Economy of Means: On Translating Gemma Gorga
Based on the concept of a medieval book of hours, Gemma Gorga's award-winning collection of poetry, Llibre dels minuts (Book of Minutes) distills the devotional and quotidien aspects of… More
His Craft of Narration: On Translating Geet Chaturvedi
First published in 2008, Geet Chaturvedi's lyrical, award-winning novella, Simsim, was recognized for its groundbreaking contribution to contemporary Hindi fiction. Simsim narrates the clash between two Indias—one old and… More
Bridging French Modernism: On Translating Marcel Schwob
Marcel Schwob's Vies Imaginaries (1896) is a collection of 22 fictio-documentary stories blending the fantastic and the biographical, and which would later influence Borges' A Universal History of Infamy. More
Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape
Lauret Savoy is a finalist for the 2016 PEN Open Book Award. This excerpt from her book of interconnected essays traces memory, geology, and human history. More
