Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
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The PEN Ten with Rowan Ricardo Phillips
"I don't find the skill to be in writing or even in reading. The real skill is being a human being, weighing that, contemplating its arcs and depths, and… More
The PEN Ten with Luanne Rice
"But in this case I was writing about people crossing the border, dying in the desert or living in fear, undocumented in Boyle Heights, and it was inspired by… More
The PEN Ten with Matt Bell
"The best books probably weren't written for presidents. The most important books will probably always be written for people who are afraid of what the presidency might become." More
The PEN Ten with Don Mee Choi
"My politico-aesthetic stance and practice as a poet and translator is 'illegal' and will likely remain so. I will let you know if and when an arrest ever happens." More
The PEN Ten with Saeed Jones
"I'm obsessed with manhood as a brutal and artful performance. My mind always finds its way back to the crossroad where sex, race, and power collide." More
The PEN Ten with Atticus Lish
War may be the ultimate subject. Its truth is elusive. They say only the dead know war. More
The PEN Ten with Lisa Lucas
"I [ ] think that there’s something to how hard it is to write, to tell the truth, to publish, and to make a living doing so that brings… More
The PEN Ten with Laila Lalami
[W]riters have to write, even under threat. I think often of Tahar Djaout’s words: “If you speak, you die / If you are silent, you die / So speak… More
The PEN Ten with Emily St. John Mandel
I sometimes used to describe my time in Montreal as an unmitigated catastrophe, but that was untrue. I got a novel out of it. More
The PEN Ten with Maxwell Neely-Cohen
I think that publishers and editors have a great deal of responsibility, but I’m not sure that writers do. Write the best book you possibly can. That’s it. More
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