Interviews & Features
PEN America produces a breadth of interviews and features throughout the year.
2015 PEN Poetry in Translation Award: Four Questions for Winner Eliza Griswold
"We thought it would be a remarkable project to look at the impact that more than a decade of U.S. occupation had had on the lives and songs of… More
The PEN Ten with Ian Buruma
As far as writing is concerned I am obsessed by clarity, which can be a weakness. Great art must leave room for ambiguity, even mystery. More
The PEN Ten with John Branch
"As a newspaper reporter, I'm quite used to being called names. You may have heard that we're not the most popular people." More
The PEN Ten with Jennifer Blackmer
"There was a time in my twenties when I didn’t write because it was too difficult. I had elevated the concept of “being a writer” to a status I… More
The PEN Ten with Joy Harjo
"I have to take care of what I was given. I am aware of carrying a gift that belongs to my people. It doesn’t belong to me. It’s ancient… More
The PEN Ten with Ross Gay
"My responsibility now feels to be, among two thousand other things, to explore what is lovely and necessary and to be adored and cared for and held up." More
The PEN Ten with Jack Livings
"[Tell] it straight, tell it slant—just tell all of it. Anything that can be done on the page, probably should be. It doesn’t matter whether or not we, as… More
The PEN Ten with Khaled Mattawa
"Being uninhibited is not the only imaginative state that artists should seek to be all the time." More
The PEN Ten with Sebastian Rotella
"I’m obsessed with urban neighborhoods, the ideas of identity and tribe that shape and are shaped by them, the hope, conflict, and heartbreak of the ethnic, racial, and socio-economic… More
2015 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize: An Interview with the Finalists
To get a better idea of the writers behind the books, we asked each of the finalists of the 2015 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize four questions addressing inspiration, routine,… More
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