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 Hanif Abdurraqib
“I’ve needed stories as a way to keep loved ones alive, as a way to contextualize histories, as a way to push back against things I was told to… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Carribean Fragoza
“Fiction is very real to me, not just because my characters and settings are often inspired by real people. . . but because they also address emotions and ideas… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Forsyth Harmon
“Ali, [the] teenage narrator [in my book, Justine], struggles to communicate in words. I used illustrations as another way to represent her interior.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jamie Figueroa
“Why do people need food and water? That’s how strongly I feel about the function of stories. We need stories to survive. . . to remember, to imagine, to… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Marisa Reichardt
“I think my identity reveals itself in styles, themes, and messages. Where I grew up, the sports I played, the people I loved and loathed, these all show up… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Asha Dahya
“It is so common to feel alone in our lived experiences, but once we see more and more people share their stories, we start to get that sense of… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Zak Salih
“Pride as a gay man, as a writer—both require one to build up defenses against judgment while simultaneously embracing the vulnerability that comes from making public one’s authentic self.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Te-Ping Chen
“I was trying to bring to life a much more vivid, textured sense of China, a country full of complexity and contradictions that can be hard for readers to… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Renée Watson
“Writing from a true place for me is more about creating stories that resonate with my readers so that even if they’ve never been in that particular circumstance, they… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Matthew Salesses
“Stories teach us how to be in the world, and from a young age, we learn that the kind of person who gets to be the protagonist is the… More
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