Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Ten with Samiya Bashir
“The writer,” such as they are, can lose their mind or more by not writing. Your work, if it’s in you, can be both tonic and toxic. More
PEN San Miguel: Advocating for Journalists in Dangerous Climate for Free Expression
Threat in Mexico is not abstract. Over 70 journalists have been killed here in recent years…Mexico is a terrifying place to be trying to exercise free expression... More
The PEN Ten with Carmen Agra Deedy
Respect the intelligence of young readers and never, ever, lie to them. They will love you for the former and crucify you should you ignore the latter. More
Four Questions for Simon Armitage, Winner of the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
For the first time in my life I was bilingual, even if I could only communicate with people who had been dead for half a millennium. More
Four Questions for Tess Lewis, Winner of the 2017 PEN Translation Prize
I always read my drafts out loud when I’m polishing them—I find it easier to hear mistakes or awkward passages than to 'see' them. More
The PEN Ten with Deborah Smith
I never discuss a translation while I’m working on it, because for me the author’s voice and intention are all there on the page. More
The PEN Ten with Nicole Dennis-Benn
My job as a writer is to humanize people on the page … as artists we have a responsibility to dispel ignorance by spreading empathy. More
The PEN Ten with Sarah Schulman
The arresting officer testified that I said, 'Ladies should be able to choose.' I think that the idea of a woman's life being a human life was too complex. More
PEN Haiti: Growing with a New Generation
Haiti, with its history of dictatorship and oppression, has slowly but surely found its way back to a sociopolitical environment where free expression can be exercised. More
The PEN Ten with Christopher Bollen
I’m sure that particular piece of writing is horrifically melodramatic, but it did break down some invisible barrier between me and the page. It made me a braver writer. More
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