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 with Burhan Sönmez

"We don’t have to think of limiting our freedom. Instead, we need to find ways to cross the borderlines of restrictions and, when it happens, be ready to pay… More

The PEN Ten with Yuri Herrera

"The writer’s responsibility cannot be dictated by any party, politician, sponsor, or cleric. If it is possible to talk about the responsibility of the writer, it is to be… More

The PEN Ten with Marlon James

"Writers do have a collective purpose, and that’s to write. I think we writers have managed to convince ourselves that that's not enough. Why is that? Writing can actually… More

The PEN Ten with John Murillo

"It was after the Rodney King verdicts were announced in April of 1992. I remember feeling simultaneously pleased and disappointed with myself that my first response was to want… More

The PEN Ten with Carol Edgarian

"I guess you could say that today our job is to work against the collective numbness. To act as the opposing force. Where there’s shadow, bring a lantern." More

The PEN Ten with Janet Peery

I would caution us to refrain from spending too much time in articulating [writers'] collective purpose for fear of leaching the blood out of the “uncontrollable mystery on the… More