Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Raquel Almazan
"People need stories the way they need water. Our stories are our culture, our history, and a map for our future." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Danez Smith
"The idea that there is only one kind of poet or one kind of poetry worth listening to is long dead." More
PEN Out Loud Talks: Saidiya Hartman and Leslie Jamison
"I do believe that books can change the world, or at least, how we inhabit it." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Tochi Onyebuchi
"I think in America, the biggest threat to free expression is, paradoxically, American publishing." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Annalee Newitz
"Indeed, survival has been an ongoing preoccupation of mine, in both fiction and nonfiction." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Aleksandra Lun, translated by Elizabeth Bryer
"I think we need them to see our own stories reflected—all of us, even if we don’t know it, are telling a story with our own lives." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Will Mackin
"Somebody once told me that, with the possible exception of my mom, nobody actually cares if I ever write or publish anything. I find this idea more liberating than… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Amal El-Mohtar
"Cultivate compassion for your own work, for its flaws and limits. Let yourself love your work even as you labour to improve it." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Angie Cruz
"I think stories do a lot of work to help us understand how and where we live, and they also can help us to step back and find a… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Dohra Ahmad
"The biggest threat to free expression has always been, and will continue to be, unequal access to publication and publicity." More