Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The M Word Stories: Antonio De Jesus Lopez
To be Muslim in America is, by default, an act of resistance … As a Mexican and as a Muslim, my identity clashes in these beautiful, complex ways. More
The PEN Ten with Idra Novey
Translating the words of the writers I most admire has always felt more daring to me than coming up with words of my own. It is such a complex… More
The PEN Ten with Aleksandar Hemon
The role of the people in any democracy is to drive their leaders crazy with demands. Ask not what you can do for your country, but what it must… More
The PEN Ten with Rion Amilcar Scott
The only responsibility of a writer is to zealously chase his or her obsessions to every weird logical and illogical end. More
Interview with Vietnamese Journalist and Human Rights Lawyer Trinh Huu Long
One year after the Anh Ba Sam court decision, PEN America publishes its interview with Trinh Huu Long, a Vietnamese journalist and human rights lawyer who stepped in to… More
The PEN Ten with Marge Piercy
Even very dangerous books are worth reading, if only to know my enemy. I don’t think anybody has the right to censor another person’s ideas. More
PEN Myanmar: Pushing Free Expression Reform And Revitalizing Literature
PEN Myanmar always strives to find a balance between revitalizing Myanmar literature, and defending and promoting freedom of expression. More
The PEN Ten with Lidia Yuknavitch
I am against censorship. Freedom of expression is worth dying for, worth fighting for. But I am troubled by the relationship between our words and our deeds. More
The M Word: Exclusive Interview with George Takei
"The ignorance of that history is what makes it possible to repeat again." A conversation between George Takei and Wajahat Ali on the internment of Japanese Americans and the… More
The PEN Ten with Melissa Febos
We wield a lot of power, even when we don’t recognize it. Sometimes I think we’d rather not recognize it. We can’t afford to indulge that particular laziness anymore. More
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