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The PEN Ten Interview Series
The PEN Ten is on the pulse of literary culture to help you discover your next great read. In this interview series, we ask authors 10 questions about their latest work and art.
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Charmaine Wilkerson
"I was one of those kids who loved books and always wanted to write stories." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jessamine Chan
“More than anything, I wanted to write the Chinese American heroine I’ve always wanted to read: messy, thorny, flawed, desirous, vulnerable, yet loving.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Quiara Alegría Hudes
“Writing is self-interrogation. Rigorous contemplation. That, in and of itself, is resistance in this capitalist amnesiac macho nation.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Daphne Palasi Andreades
“I like that word, ‘need,’ in relation to art and storytelling. ‘Need’ implies a necessity. . . . Stories have helped me understand myself and the world more deeply.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jean Chen Ho
“I made a lot of awful, sad things happen to these characters [in Fiona and Jane]. . . and still, they manage to survive and even find joy, together.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with the 2021 PEN Prison Writing Award Winners
“Am I a writer imprisoned, or has imprisonment made me a writer? Parallel universes aside, imprisonment. . . does contain all the essential ingredients of a writer’s life.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Francesco Pacifico
“Maybe we can talk of the role of the writers, plural. Plural writing can tell a complex story of different reactions: a web of interconnected experiences and approaches.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Peter Stamm
“I’m interested in people and characters who have a secret. A secret past or a secret passion or a secret goal—something hidden that I can try to find out.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Christopher Gonzalez
“I’m always drawn to writing by other queer authors of color, whether they’re writing about joy or anger or quiet narratives or love or sex. . . . More… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Kyle Lucia Wu
“Sometimes the scrim of a story allows us to see things with more clarity and empathy—things we might look away from or numb ourselves to in our real lives.” More