The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jessamine Chan
“More than anything, I wanted to write the Chinese American heroine I’ve always wanted to read: messy, thorny, flawed, desirous, vulnerable, yet loving.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Quiara Alegría Hudes
“Writing is self-interrogation. Rigorous contemplation. That, in and of itself, is resistance in this capitalist amnesiac macho nation.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Daphne Palasi Andreades
“I like that word, ‘need,’ in relation to art and storytelling. ‘Need’ implies a necessity. . . . Stories have helped me understand myself and the world more deeply.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jean Chen Ho
“I made a lot of awful, sad things happen to these characters [in Fiona and Jane]. . . and still, they manage to survive and even find joy, together.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with the 2021 PEN Prison Writing Award Winners
“Am I a writer imprisoned, or has imprisonment made me a writer? Parallel universes aside, imprisonment. . . does contain all the essential ingredients of a writer’s life.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Francesco Pacifico
“Maybe we can talk of the role of the writers, plural. Plural writing can tell a complex story of different reactions: a web of interconnected experiences and approaches.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Peter Stamm
“I’m interested in people and characters who have a secret. A secret past or a secret passion or a secret goal—something hidden that I can try to find out.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Christopher Gonzalez
“I’m always drawn to writing by other queer authors of color, whether they’re writing about joy or anger or quiet narratives or love or sex. . . . More… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Kyle Lucia Wu
“Sometimes the scrim of a story allows us to see things with more clarity and empathy—things we might look away from or numb ourselves to in our real lives.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Mina Seçkin
“Any language is meant to evolve. . . . Living in two languages—neither spoken with exact accuracy—built a house of expression for me growing up.” More