• Coffee Corner

    Coffee Corner

    Bushra al-Maqtari on how Sana’a, Yemen, has changed. Translated by Sawad Hussain.

  • PEN Atlas Q&A: José Eduardo Agualusa

    The author of A General Theory of Oblivion talks to PEN Atlas about his reclusive main character, the city of Luanda, living through troubled times, and the value of being translated.

  • Kafka’s The Trial in Eritrea

    Today, on World Press Freedom Day, the director of PEN Eritrea in Exile shares his experience of life as a journalist in Eritrea.

  • Kafka's The Trial in Eritrea

    Today, on World Press Freedom Day, the director of PEN Eritrea in Exile shares his experience of life as a journalist in Eritrea.

  • Why storytelling matters

    The award-winning writer and folklorist reflects on the comfort and power of family stories.

  • Bards without borders

    Two members of the Bards Without Borders poetry collective reveal their split opinions on Shakespeare in the lead-up to the 400th anniversary of his death.

  • World literatures and literary worlds

    As translators and publishers from around the world gather for the 2016 London Book Fair, Writers in Translation programme manager Erica Jarnes reflects on the theme of ‘reputation’ with respect to non-Anglophone writers.

  • No-platforming on campus: the student perspective

    The Co-Chairs of York Student PEN explore the controversial NUS ‘No-platform’ policy, and the wider implications for freedom of speech in UK universities.

  • The peacock and the pen

    A short story by Ellen Wiles about a writer from Myanmar reflecting on her country’s new transition, based on several true accounts of Burmese writers’ lives under censorship and beyond.

  • It’s all in a name

    Co-written with Andrea C. Hoffmann, translated from German by Shaun Whiteside. The weather is bad as we stand outside Sherbrooke town hall. The rain is pouring down – as it does so often in my new home, Canada, which is in every respect the opposite of my old one. All my friends have come. It…

  • It's all in a name

    Co-written with Andrea C. Hoffmann, translated from German by Shaun Whiteside. The weather is bad as we stand outside Sherbrooke town hall. The rain is pouring down – as it does so often in my new home, Canada, which is in every respect the opposite of my old one. All my friends have come. It…

  • The seizure of a book review

    On 4 March 2016, Kitap Zamanı, the literary supplement of Turkey’s largest newspaper Zaman, was shut down by the government. Poet Can Bahadır Yüce reflects on the future of press freedom in Turkey.

  • Amid a sea of red flags

    The award-winning writer and artist discusses her life-long relationship with literature and the politics of being a writer in China.

  • Women writers in translation to read right now

    To mark International Women’s Day 2016, the founder of #readwomen gives her top recommendations of women writers in translation.

  • From the back of the bus: the significance of BAME writers

    Poet, performer and educator Anthony Anaxagorou writes on the lack of diversity in UK publishing and why the new Bare Lit festival celebrating writers of colour is so needed.

  • Letter to Britain

    As the UK considers its place in the European Union ahead of a likely referendum in June, the German author sends a personal message.

  • Prophets and holy warriors

    Ahead of his appearance at our first PEN Atlas event on 24 February, Bangladeshi journalist and editor Tasneem Khalil reflects on the death of Avijit Roy and other ‘prophets of freethought’.

  • On the beauty of international crime (fiction)

    The publisher of brand-new imprint Point Blank makes the literary case for crime fiction, and explains how it might just open more eyes to the pleasures of reading in translation.

  • January 25th: from a revolution, to a conspiracy, to a forbidden call

    Five years on from the historic events of Tahrir Square, writer and psychiatrist Basma Abdel Aziz reflects on the many names of the Egyptian revolution, and her hopes for the future.

  • My search for meaning

    Femi Martin, founder of Full Circle Projects, discusses the impact of creativity in her own life and in the lives of the people she works with.

  • Talking about home

    Sudanese-American poet Safia Elhillo shares two new poems and comments on the complex relationship between language, identity, family and the concept of home when living in the diaspora.