Stay ConnectedAs an organization that’s all about the literary community, PEN America knows that the ongoing health crisis is hitting our Members and friends particularly hard. The PEN Pod is meant to provide regular updates and conversations about literature and free expression, and provide an outlet for literary celebration as in-person events remain few and far between.
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On this episode of The PEN Pod, we speak to author of THE UNDOCUMENTED AMERICANS Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. She discusses telling a fuller story of the undocumented experience and the need for solidarity amid manifold crises. And just a note: this episode includes discussion of mental health.
Pawan Dhingra's new book explores the hyper-educated child but also how the next generation might cope with the current crises. Then, as summer approaches, we're offering a new program for high school and college students eager to engage on the issues of free speech and free expression.
Nguyen Phan Que Mai weaves together a fictional family saga with the real-life traumas of Vietnam's tumultuous 20th century in her new work THE MOUNTAINS SING. Plus, a reading list for our moment.
In this installment of The PEN Pod, we check in with author and activist Simran Jeet Singh; he's out with a new children's book, and he reflects on the protests he's witnessed in New York City. Then we get an excerpt from our PEN World Voices Festival podcast These Truths with a conversation among three writers.
On today's edition, we talk to our CEO Suzanne Nossel about what literary organizations can do at this moment of crisis as part of our weekly series "Tough Questions." Then, we get insights from general counsel of the Authors Guild, playwright, and TV writer Cheryl L. Davis on how books and literature can help us better understand this difficult moment of unrest.
On today's edition of The PEN Pod, we announce the winner of our 2020 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, imprisoned Chinese writer and activist Xu Zhiyong. We speak to his friend, scholar and advocate Teng Biao. Then, an excerpt of a conversation between authors Yuri Herrera and Fernanda Melchor, part of our PEN World Voices podcast These Truths
On this episode of The PEN Pod, we check in with Karen Attiah, journalist and global opinions editor at the Washington Post. She reflects on the intersecting political crises of COVID-19 and state-sanctioned violence, and urges us to turn the lens of criticism inward. Then, we want to hear about how we can use this platform to uplift more voices.
Today, we take a break from our normal production schedule alongside others participating in #TheShowMustBePaused.
A weekend of demonstrations and excessive violence by state actors has led to a major reckoning for the First Amendment. On this episode, we hear from a Reuters journalist shot with rubber bullets by police in Minneapolis. And then our own Nora Benavidez examines the implications this weekend may have for protest rights moving forward.
On today's edition of The PEN Pod, we talk to Liberian American author Wayetu Moore about her memoir The Dragons, The Giant, The Women, and how magical thinking helped her and her family persevere through war. Then, Suzanne Nossel walks us through the president's executive order targeting social media companies.
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