Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
“The stories we are told, and the stories we tell ourselves, shape us in profound ways. They affect how we see ourselves and others, for good or for ill.” More
The PEN Pod: Reflecting on the Impacts of Hurricane Maria with Ricia Chansky and Zaira Arvelo Alicea
“These are the stories that are missing. . . . How did people, when there was no help coming, how did people gather together to care for each other,… More
The PEN Pod: On Our Gala, Free Speech in Higher Ed, and Facebook Algorithms with Suzanne Nossel
“Nurturing the community in that way, creating these opportunities to get together, we see as part of our role at PEN America, and we were glad to be able… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Arnold Lehman
“I do believe that American museums continue to present exhibitions and programs that approach and challenge the status quo.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
“That’s all a story really is: two or more people getting together, and one of them letting out what they need to be heard.” More
The PEN Pod: On Writer-to-Writer Solidarity and the Rise of Book Bans with Suzanne Nossel
“For us, at PEN, doing a lot of work on press freedom issues. . . it’s a reminder of what we’re fighting for.” More
The PEN Pod: On Trauma, Identity, and Reinvention with Dan O’Brien
“It’s so important to me to push through the taboo of what we shouldn’t speak about and can’t speak about, or feel we can’t speak about.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with José Vadi
“Writing about my history and those histories I’ve inherited about my family from different family members has allowed me to embrace the missing gaps of the collective familiar timeline.” More
The PEN Pod: On Reporting on Russia and the Climate for Foreign Journalists with Sarah Rainsford
“The climate for journalism and generally in Russia is closing down. It’s changing, it’s getting harder, it’s getting tougher. And for some reason, I appear to have been singled… More
The PEN Pod: On Authoritarianism, Abortion Restrictions, and Protecting the Freedom to Learn
“They are people who deserve our support, who’ve been working as human rights defenders inside their countries, who now are faced with the loss of their livelihood.” More
Support for the freedom to read with exclusive designs by Todd Parr, Mike Curato, Art Spiegelman, and more!
