We're launching into a whole new season of PEN Out Loud! Join us for our Winter 2022 season as we celebrate books from Robert Jones Jr., Julie Otsuka, Solmaz Sharif, and Julissa Arce.
TUESDAY 2/8 | 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Virtual Event First 300 admission with book tickets will be signed |BUY »
National Book Award finalist Robert Jones Jr. joins PEN Out Loud to celebrate the paperback release of his New York Times-bestselling novel, The Prophets. A stirring and lyrical debut, it tells the love story between two enslaved men, and the endurance of their relationship amid increasing tensions and violence on the plantation where they live. Jones Jr. will be joined in conversation with fellow New York Times-bestselling author of Black Buck, Mateo Askaripour.
TUESDAY 2/22 | 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Virtual Event
First 200 admission with book tickets will be signed | BUY »
PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist Julie Otsuka joins PEN Out Loud and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop to launch her first novel in over a decade, The Swimmers. Turning her attention to a group of recreational swimmers who are disrupted from their routine when a crack appears at the bottom of their pool, the novel explores dislocation, mother and daughter relationships, and the individual and communal consequences of Alzheimer’s disease. Otsuka will be in conversation with author of the memoir All You Can Ever Know and contributing writer and editor at The Atlantic, Nicole Chung.
National Book Award finalist Solmaz Sharif joins PEN Out Loud to discuss her second poetry collection, Customs. Examining the “culture of performed social skills and poetry itself—its foreclosures, affects, successes—”the collection of poems “trace a pointed indoctrination to the customs of the nation-state and the English language, and the realities they impose upon the imagination.”
TUESDAY 3/22 | 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Garrison Theater, Scripps College REGISTER »
Bestselling author and cofounder of the Ascend Educational Fund Julissa Arce joins PEN Out Loud to launch her new book You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation. Reflecting on the words in the book’s title, an accusation she heard growing up, Arce “interweaves her own experiences with cultural commentary” to critique the values of assimilation, and to offer a new perspective that “belonging only comes through celebrating yourself, your history, your culture, and everything that makes you uniquely you.” Arce will be in conversation with comedian, writer, and producer Aida Rodriguez.
Reminder: Applications for the Emerging Voices Fellowship are due January 31st! The Fellowship provides a virtual five-month immersive mentorship program for early-career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world. The program is committed to cultivating the careers of Black writers, and serves writers who identify as Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQ+, immigrants, writers with disabilities, and those living outside of urban centers. Learn more and apply here ››
The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison(Haymarket Books, Tuesday 1/11/22) is a new anthology from PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program that draws on the unique insights of more than 50 contributors to provide a road map for incarcerated people and their allies on creating a thriving writing life behind bars. Join us in February for a conversation between Caits Meissner, the anthology's editor and director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America, and contributor Reginald Dwayne Betts, moderated by author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Register for the event here ››
Save the date for our 2022 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony, to be held at New York City's historic Town Hall. The Literary Awards Ceremony honors and celebrates remarkable literature, along with the writers, translators, editors, and publishers who helped these stories come to life. We hope you’ll join us for a night of literary celebration, as we confer over $350,000 to writers and translators at all stages of their careers. Stay tuned for ticketing information and be sure to save the date! Finalists for the PEN America Literary Awards will be announced next week; check out our Longlists here.
The PEN Ten with Quiara Alegría Hudes: “Writing is self-interrogation. Rigorous contemplation. That, in and of itself, is resistance in this capitalist amnesiac macho nation.”
The PEN Ten with Daphne Palasi Andreades: “I like that word, ‘need,’ in relation to art and storytelling. ‘Need’ implies a necessity—something essential. Stories have helped me understand myself and the world more deeply.”
Tuesday 1/25 | 7pm ET | Symphony Space
In-person and livestream ticket options available
Journalist, playwright, and political activist Wajahat Ali emcees this evening of storytelling, comedy, and music probing the highs and lows of the American immigrant experience, featuring musician Zeshan B, author and former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, acclaimed writers Cathy Park Hong (Minor Feelings) and Min Jin Lee (Pachinko), comedian and actress Aparna Nancherla (Corporate), and more. MORE INFO ››
Scholars, writers, literary activists, cultural critics, and students are invited to submit proposals for the 16th National Black Writers Conference (March 2022) by Monday 2/14.
The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY (CBL), will present the 16th National Black Writers Conference from March 30 to April 2, 2022. This year's gathering will feature writers, scholars, and literary professionals who, through panels, roundtables, and readings, will engage the public in intellectual discussions on the state of Black literature, under the theme of "The Beautiful Struggle: Black Writers Lighting the Way." View the guidelines for submitting papers here ››
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