Commentary

Arundhati Roy: “Literature provides shelter”

By Neel Dhanesha May 20, 2019

In this year’s PEN America Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, Arundhati Roy spoke about the power of literature to challenge governments.

PEN World Voices Arts & Culture

Commentary

Six Writers on the Power of Telling the Truth

By Fran Bigman May 16, 2019

At a panel at this year’s PEN America World Voices Festival, six writers discuss the empowering effects of sharing difficult experiences.

PEN World Voices Arts & Culture

Commentary

Two “Artists of the Air” on the Limits of Time and Space

By Alan Scherstuhl May 16, 2019

At a panel at this year’s PEN America World Voices Festival, high-wire walker Phillippe Petit and extreme-action pioneer Elizabeth Streb discuss their death-defying art.

PEN World Voices Arts & Culture

Commentary

Five Poets Reflect on the Life and Work of Yusef Komunyakaa

By Spencer Green May 16, 2019

At a panel at this year’s PEN America World Voices Festival, five poets discuss the pain and self-actualization in the poems of Komunyakaa.

PEN World Voices Arts & Culture

Interview

Fernando A. Flores: “The oldest stories of this land were fantastical in essence”

By KrisAnne Madaus April 26, 2019

An emerging voice in fiction discusses writing as performance, translating rhythm into narrative, and writing the “anti-research” novel.

AmericasArts & CultureLit World

Interview

Hilary Hahn: Entering the Sublime

By Emily Fragos April 25, 2019

The renowned violinist on the joys and intensities of creative life.

Arts & Culture

Report

Here We Abandon All Destinations

By Amanda Feinman March 28, 2019

A boundary-pushing drag bar in Brooklyn promises more freedom for us all

Arts & CultureGender

Lives

The Grandmother Character

By Maria Kuznetsova March 19, 2019

I thought: I would never write a fictional scene like this, because it was too obvious—the art butting up against reality, as though my story held some kind of portentous power.

Arts & CultureFamily & Relationships

EssayLives

Dancing Alvin Ailey’s Revelations in Black and Brown

By Jamila Wilkinson March 15, 2019

How can I perform a story that isn’t mine to tell?

Arts & CultureRace

Interview

Back Draft: Natasha Trethewey

By Ben Purkert and Natasha Trethewey February 26, 2019

The acclaimed poet discusses a devastating fire, and the painterly in poetry.

Back Draft Arts & CultureLit World

Review

The Carnegie International Explores its Past With an Eye to the Future

By Roslyn Bernstein February 7, 2019

The exhibition's 57th edition casts a wide net, and the result is bold and thoughtful.

Arts & Culture