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 Metta Sáma
"The responsibility of this writer is to be ethical, conscientious, non-judgmental, curious, free free free." More
The PEN Ten with Sonia Guiñansaca
"Erasure happens when it comes to the history/lives/contribution/resistance/survival of people of color in America, and so with my pen I make sure that they exist and are remembered in… More
The PEN Ten with Dunya Mikhail
"When I came to America, I found that censorship had no home on the ground, but it was somehow in the air, implicit. Speech here is usually restricted to… More
The PEN Ten with Stephanie Kuehn
"...there are plenty of adults who feel young adult literature requires hope. I feel differently, which goes back to truth-telling. I believe teens deserve uncomfortable truths." More
The PEN Ten with Ben H. Winters
"Fiction is built out of the day-to-day stuff of life, words and people and events, but it’s different and it’s meant to be different. So our collective purpose is… More
The PEN Ten with Ian Buruma
As far as writing is concerned I am obsessed by clarity, which can be a weakness. Great art must leave room for ambiguity, even mystery. More
The PEN Ten with John Branch
"As a newspaper reporter, I'm quite used to being called names. You may have heard that we're not the most popular people." More
The PEN Ten with Jennifer Blackmer
"There was a time in my twenties when I didn’t write because it was too difficult. I had elevated the concept of “being a writer” to a status I… More
The PEN Ten with Joy Harjo
"I have to take care of what I was given. I am aware of carrying a gift that belongs to my people. It doesn’t belong to me. It’s ancient… More
The PEN Ten with Ross Gay
"My responsibility now feels to be, among two thousand other things, to explore what is lovely and necessary and to be adored and cared for and held up." More
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