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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 Paul Yoon
"Nothing else can do what stories can do for me: they are vast, elastic, personal, intimate—it’s all there." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Raquel Almazan
"People need stories the way they need water. Our stories are our culture, our history, and a map for our future." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Danez Smith
"The idea that there is only one kind of poet or one kind of poetry worth listening to is long dead." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Tochi Onyebuchi
"I think in America, the biggest threat to free expression is, paradoxically, American publishing." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Annalee Newitz
"Indeed, survival has been an ongoing preoccupation of mine, in both fiction and nonfiction." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Aleksandra Lun, translated by Elizabeth Bryer
"I think we need them to see our own stories reflected—all of us, even if we don’t know it, are telling a story with our own lives." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Will Mackin
"Somebody once told me that, with the possible exception of my mom, nobody actually cares if I ever write or publish anything. I find this idea more liberating than… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Amal El-Mohtar
"Cultivate compassion for your own work, for its flaws and limits. Let yourself love your work even as you labour to improve it." More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Angie Cruz
"I think stories do a lot of work to help us understand how and where we live, and they also can help us to step back and find a… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Dohra Ahmad
"The biggest threat to free expression has always been, and will continue to be, unequal access to publication and publicity." More