The PEN Ten with Rebecca Carroll
"The collective purpose of writers might be keep us all sane, generous and accountable." More
The PEN Ten with Peter Ho Davies
"What I try to resist is the self-censorship that stops us even trying to write something. That to my mind closes down the possibility too soon. The decision point… More
The PEN Ten with Oddný Eir
"The writer is responsible for what he writes. I'm old fashioned and think that the writer is responsible for making us more responsible and keeping words alive so we… More
The PEN Ten with Ishion Hutchinson
"You are naturally paying tribute to the dead and the living, because a poem is the vehicle of reciprocal tension between what came before and what is present." More
Art is a Form of Encryption: Laura Poitras in Conversation with Lynn Hershman Leeson
"There are certain people who don’t encrypt their e-mail, so we just create a coding system. Perhaps we are talking about having lunch at a certain restaurant, when in… More
The PEN Ten with Ming Di
"I don’t think it’s the responsibility of writers to do anything. We do it anyway—out of consciousness, not responsibility." More
The PEN Ten with E. Tammy Kim
"Writers are people, so we have political responsibilities that zigzag across the globe. If we are good at our craft, we have the additional burden of conveying information and… More
The PEN Ten with Tina Chang
"We are each placed here to carry out something quite distinctive, quite separate. That individuality of purpose makes for friction that is very much alive." More
The PEN Ten with Abdellah Taïa
"I have always functioned alone. I believe in a single voice changing the world. I don't place much trust in groups." More
Four Questions for Katrina Dodson, Winner of the 2016 PEN Translation Prize
I’ve thought often about how translation requires extreme humility, to be able to recede into the shadows and let one’s style be subsumed by another’s. Translators work hard not… More