I am an artist, I get to be my home, my own language, my own culture.
Read MoreLampedusa: Gateway to Europe
We must welcome those who run away from hunger and war. Lampedusa’s people did it and sent a message to Europe. And Europe has to hear this message.
Read MoreLoosened Locks: on Mahvash Sabet
A woman walked out of Evin Prison in Tehran late one evening. Her face was pale from long confinement but her eyes shone bright.
Read MoreDie, My Love
I lay back in the grass among fallen trees and the heat of sun on my palm felt like a knife I could use to bleed myself dry with one swift cut to the jugular.
Read MoreThe Writer’s Paradox
I am writing this in a prison cell. But I am not in prison. I am a writer.
Read MoreElena Varvello on the power of place
Elena Varvello explores the idea of place as a multitude of characters in her writing.
Read MoreThe power of place
This is how my imagination works, I suppose: mysteriously, the process of writing always begins with a place.
Read MoreInstructions Within — Andrew McMillan reads Ashraf Fayadh’s poetry
Andrew McMillan reads the poetry of Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian-born writer and artist imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for his work.
Read MoreEditing a book review: a dangerous act in Turkey
As Cumhuriyet journalists await their verdict in Turkey, Can Bahadır Yüce pays tribute to his imprisoned colleagues and reflects on the link between populism and anti-intellectualism.
Read MoreA conversation with Vigdis Hjorth
We have to work on two fronts. We have to do something about the structures, and we also have to help the individual.
Read MoreIf This is a Lament
Exclusive preview of the title poem, ‘If this is a lament’, from a new chapbook of work by Turkish poet Bejan Matur, translated by Jen Hadfield and Canan Marasligil.
Read MoreA conversation with Dorthe Nors
You become an estranged human being, which leads to a certain kind of solitude and loneliness.
Read MorePEN Atlas Q&A: Mohsin Hamid
In the first in a series of author interviews about migration and otherness, we speak to novelist and writer Mohsin Hamid.
Read MoreA conversation with Mohsin Hamid
‘Even if you’re 75 years old and haven’t left the city you’ve grown up in, you have migrated through time. To me, it feels like the theme of being human is being a migrant.’
Read MoreIs there a crisis in storytelling?
In an era of increasing self-censorship and blurred lines between truth and fiction, the acclaimed author and translator considers the effects of a tumultuous year on literary creativity.
Read MoreThe immortal bird
To celebrate UN Arabic Language Day, poet and professor Atef Alshaer shares the history, richness and possibilities for the lingua franca of the Arabic world.
Read MorePEN Atlas Q&A: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
In conversation with the prolific author, playwright and academic to mark the publication of his latest memoir, Birth of a Dream Weaver.
Read MoreThe story of The Book of Dhaka
The arts editor of the Dhaka Tribune reports from the city’s thriving annual literary festival, where writers and translators came together for a special launch of the latest Comma Press ‘City in Fiction’ anthology – The Book of Dhaka.
Read MoreOn Babel, hospitalities and waves
The founder of Babel festival reflects on its genesis and investigates the role of translation and multilingualism in fostering community.
Read MoreFragments
The winner of the European Prize for Literature 2009 writes six new short stories for PEN Atlas to mark the publication of her newest book, Trysting.
Read MoreNot another diversity panel
The editor of The Good Immigrant on the creation of the book and bringing change to the publishing industry.
Read MoreThe roar of the planes
A personal dispatch from author, activist and long time friend of English PEN, award-winning Faïza Guène, whose fiancé is at urgent risk of deportation from France.
Read MoreThe night before
The author of One Hundred Shadows on the Yongsan Disaster, the novel as a song and light that can emerge from darkness.
Read MoreNew Books in German at 20
Editor Charlotte Ryland and acting editor Jen Calleja discuss the last – and next – twenty years of the magazine.
Read MoreThe 2016 PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage Award speech
Bangladeshi publisher, writer and activist Tutul was chosen by 2016 PEN Pinter Prize winner Margaret Atwood as the recipient of the 2016 International Writer of Courage Award.
Read MoreThe 2016 PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage Award speech [in Bangla]
শুভ সন্ধ্যা। এখানে যারা উপস্থিত আছেন তাদের সবাইকে আমার আন্তরিক শুভেচ্ছা ও ভালবাসা। ধন্যবাদ পেনকে, বিশেষ করে ইংলিশ পেনকে। আমাকে এখানে আমন্ত্রণ জানিয়েছেন এবং কথা বলার সুযোগ দিয়েছেন বলে। আমি আন্তরিক ধন্যবাদ ও কৃতজ্ঞতা প্রকাশ করছি মার্গারিট উড এর প্রতি। মার্গারিট আজ তার এক অর্জনের সাথে আমাকে অংশীদার করে নিলেন। আমি খুব খুব আনন্দিত এবং…
Read MoreTranslators of the world, unite!
An emerging translator reports from the frontline of International Translation Day 2016 at the British Library.
Read MoreWhy Kahramana?
A contributor to forthcoming sci-fi anthology Iraq+100 (Comma Press) reveals the meaning behind the title and implication of their story.
Read MoreHow I wrote The Winterlings
The renowned Galician author muses on unusual strikes of inspiration and casts the writer as excavator of stories that already exist within.
Read MoreWrite, write, otherwise we are lost
The translator and activist reflects on the role of literature in a country in crisis, ahead of English PEN’s event ‘PEN Atlas presents: the View from Turkey’ on 19 September.
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