The PEN Ten with Maxwell Neely-Cohen
I think that publishers and editors have a great deal of responsibility, but I’m not sure that writers do. Write the best book you possibly can. That’s it. 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 Amitava Kumar
I fear it is fashionable for many writers to think that they have to be right. I want to be wrong but true. Our task is to be human. More
The PEN Ten with Peter von Ziegesar
Writing about my family in a memoir was about as daring as it gets ... I was sure that when the book came out I was going to be… More
The PEN Ten with Sean Wilsey
Suddenly seeing myself as a writer-of-facts changed the way I looked at reality—so it was sort of a double-edged occasion. Guaranteed impediment to having a good time: knowing you'll… More
The PEN Ten with Jean Kwok
After hearing from readers who told me how the book touched and influenced them, I realized that what I say does have an impact. Of course, I need to… More
The PEN Ten with Warren Adler
My obsession is to get it right, plot, characters, atmosphere, logic. I never go to sleep without figuring out what I will write tomorrow. More
The PEN Ten with Harvey J. Kaye
My lifelong hero—ever since I was a boy—is Thomas Paine, the American Revolutionary and radical-democratic pamphleteer. I would love to be identified with his words, words such as “The… 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
The PEN Ten with Amanda Vaill
I'm still surprised to answer "I'm a writer" when people ask me what I do. I wrote as a child—pages of what we would probably call fan-fiction today, extensions… More
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