Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
The PEN Ten with Mat Johnson
"The attempt to destroy ideas is almost always futile, so censorship ultimately becomes less about controlling the ideas of the text, and more about performing a public act of… More
The PEN Ten with Dante Micheaux
"I do not think of myself as a writer, though I do write and often use the label for convenience: being a writer is much easier to explain than… More
The PEN Ten with Laura Lippman
"I am very conscious that the crime novel has taken on a lot of the trappings of the social novel. But it most interests me for its ability to… More
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The PEN Ten with Mohsin Hamid
"There is no responsibility of the writer that is different from the responsibility of the human being." More
The PEN Ten with Jynne Martin
"I live in a time and place where poetry is rarely read, much less taken as a provocation. I will reserve the term "daring" for writers in other parts… More
The PEN Ten with Lauren Cerand
In this week’s PEN Ten, our content director, Antonio Aiello, interviews Lauren Cerand, New York City book publicist and co-founder and curator of the PEN Ten interview series. More
The PEN Ten with Terese Svoboda
"Thought is only accomplished alone. A hive of thought is preferable to the drone. No drones." More
Interview with Catherine Porter and Sandra Bermann
Translator Eric Becker interviews Catherine Porter and Sandra Bermann about the release of their new book, A Companion to Translation Studies, which features 45 essays from leading translators, including… More
The PEN Ten with Leah Umansky
"As a feminist and a poet, I think it's incredibly important to have your voice heard, and having a voice is a platform." More
The PEN Ten with Matt Gallagher
"My project is influenced and informed by my own experiences in Iraq, but I've learned the most by reading accounts by journalists, civilians, and soldiers who were there before… More
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