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.
A PEN Ten Interview with the 2018 Writing for Justice Fellows
"I walk a little more in my truth each day. But it wasn’t until I wrote it down that I truly started to understand my story as one of… More
On Magic, History, and Storytelling: The PEN Ten with S. A. Chakraborty
"I like being part of a long tradition of storytelling, whether that’s ancient tales shared around a campfire or modern podcasts." More
“Being a Writer is a Matter of Doing”: A PEN Ten Interview with Yoon Ha Lee
"It is through fiction we tell ourselves the emotional truths about life and living, from birth to death, from friendship and love to betrayal, from madness to mercy." More
A PEN Ten Interview with Author Susan Bernhard
"Facts are provable, truths are held, like beliefs. Perception is more interesting to me—how we see a set of facts through the lenses of individual experience." More
A PEN Ten Interview with Poet Cynthia Manick
"It’s a writer’s job to take truth and empathy and stretch it every direction; to make sense of things that don’t make sense." More
On History, Self-Censorship, and Bravery: A PEN Ten Interview with Wayétu Moore
"I do recognize that the desire to resist stems from being socialized in a system that institutionally devalues my worth." More
“Whenever I Write, I’m Asserting That I Matter”: A PEN Ten Interview with Naima Coster
"Whenever I write, I’m asserting that I matter . . . I see that as resistance, even if it only changes what it’s like for me to be in… More
“To Remember is a Kind of Resistance”: A PEN Ten Interview with Julian Randall
"I’m glad so many people have found something they know to be true, someone like themselves in what I’ve written." More
A PEN Ten Interview with Debut Author Jaclyn Gilbert
"I’ve always felt I am in conversation with writers and readers, building my own voice out of other stories that resonate with my own." More
On Identity, Perspective, and Influences: A PEN Ten Interview with Katya Apekina
"I’m looking at emotional truth, and that’s subjective and contradictory. The facts might be the facts, but how does one interpret them?" More