The PEN Ten with Megan Abbott

"The big issues of life are explored in crime fiction because so much is laid bare there. They are about loss, guilt, survival—everything that matters." More

The PEN Ten with Forrest Gander

Is the conscience the soul’s surveillance of the self? When are observations neutral? Does a writer, even without knowing, intend to “use” observations for the benefit of the writing… More

The PEN Ten with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Fidel Castro as the measure of all things. Why is it that no Latin American writer, after almost a century of tradition with the so-called “novels of the dictator,”… More

Thai Freedom: We Can’t Breathe

He was speaking in code, of course, as many Thais do when discussing Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code that states: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King,… More

The PEN Ten with Michael F. Moore

As an interpreter I’m a bit of a stage mother, pushing the writer or director for whom I’m interpreting to jump into the conversation (Forza! Dai! Sfondi! I whisper).… More

The PEN Ten with Kyle Minor

I wish American writers in general were less anti-intellectual, more interested in the interior life and exterior systems of power. I don't come from a subculture that had much… More