Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Pod: The Path Forward with Theodore Johnson
“I don’t know that we can ever erase [structural racism] completely. But we can certainly reduce its impact. . . and I think national solidarity is our best hope… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Ricardo Wilson
“People come to fiction for so many reasons that I only really feel qualified to answer for myself. I come to a practice of reading for the same reason… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Katie Kitamura
“I see the imprint of the author in the book in other ways that are to me more interesting and intimate: in the movement of their mind, in the… More
The PEN Pod: Queering an Epic Tale with DREAMing Out Loud’s Arjun Dhawan
“In terms of migrant literature, the migrant voice, there’s something bubbling that needs to be said, that needs to be heard, that’s unbiased. A story that you’ve never heard.” More
The PEN Pod: On Platforms, Policing, and Protests with Suzanne Nossel
“As a defender of free speech, I believe those protections shouldn’t stop at the locker room door, and that athletes should be entitled to voice their opinions.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Nawaaz Ahmed
“I think the power of words also comes from what we seek through them, how we make them ours, how we use them to represent something we otherwise cannot… More
The PEN Pod: On the Healing Power of Writing with DREAMing Out Loud’s Nicole Henry
“Writing is really just powerful. Putting words to paper, whether it’s fiction or fact, it’s just a great way to work through some stuff.” More
The PEN Pod: On Vaccine Misinformation, the Capitol Insurrection, and Crackdowns on Journalists in Russia
“It’s extremely important to get [the Capitol insurrection] down as a first draft of history that cannot be wished away or ignored.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Matthew Specktor
“Everything is lost, eventually. Everything. Writing remains the only way I know to preserve the world as it vanishes all around us.” More
The PEN Pod: On Spyware Scandals, Olympic Protests, and Tackling Disinformation
“We have said a number of times in a number of contexts that athletes don’t lose their right to free expression when they put on their uniform.” More