Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Kristín Ómarsdóttir
I was inspired by our contemporary times and the growing possibility of this world's end. The story is told from some distance, from the future. It tells of events… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Cynthia Dewi Oka
To question something is to refuse its inevitability; to me that is one way we exercise our humanity in the face of inhumane conditions. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with John Weir
It’s terrible to be turned into a human interest story on the nightly news, particularly when the story is about fear and hatred and death and survival. More
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
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Helen Benedict and Eyad Awwadawnan
Perhaps the easiest and yet one of the most valuable things we can all do is to be kind to newcomers in our land—offer them a seat on a… 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
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Cheryl Boyce-Taylor
It has always been my intention to give my readers truth and offer them permission to be truthful without judgment in their own lives and work. 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