An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner Catherine Bai
In the story, it’s food and drink that similarly offer the main character a bodily connection to her heritage, even when linguistic and cultural ties have been eroded. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner Preeti Vangani
Writing is, and will always be a subversive act. And what keeps me going is to keep reminding myself that the work itself, to create, is a reward unlike… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: CK Kane
Anything that feels like you shouldn’t write about, go toward. It will find you again no matter what, so you might as well take charge. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner RZ Baschir
For me, horror and the surreal come from the same source: a psychic terror, a fear of the dark, a fixation on the devouring mouth, the thing that’s not… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Seth Wang
I’m not interested in the trauma plot. But I’m very interested in the way people use trauma and identity as an apologia for shitty behavior–especially my favs, cowardice and… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Oyedotun Damilola Muees
The people in my story only had themselves to make their community better, just like the people where I served. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Erin Connal
I wanted to explore the slippery space that misbehaving as a group allows us. The story is about a group who does something terrible but the individuals in the… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Edward Salem
Translating can make a story overly accessible in a way that’s patronizing. I’d rather have the reader experience the unfamiliarity of being in a foreign place. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Cal Shook
something I hope readers might hold onto is the current of agency that runs through this story, even if the woman at its center seems often adrift. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Patch Kirschenbaum
It can sometimes be remarkably difficult as a fiction writer to escape the feeling that you are writing into the abyss. More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
This from @jrezaian on why we must not fall for authoritarian smear tactics against journalists is a must read. #IStandwithEvan https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/31/american-journalist-russia-hostage-putin/
In our recent Hate in the Headlines report, PEN America interviewed 20+ journalists with years of experience documenting domestic extremism. Their topline takeaway? Avoid long profile pieces that normalize extremists. This #60Minutes piece will almost certainly do just that.
Students at @ETSU are being asked to verify that attendees at a student-run drag show are over the age of 18, an unnecessary restriction in an effort to appease a new law banning certain drag performances – which has actually yet to take effect. https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/etsu-changes-venue-for-student-sponsored-drag-show/