Join us in New York City's Greenwich Village from May 11-14 for the premier celebration of international literature in the United States. Featuring over 80 authors from 25 countries, the 2022 World Voices Festival presents talks, panels, readings, and performances with some of the most stirring and important literary voices of our time, including Natalie Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Saidiya Hartman, Sheila Heti, Mieko Kawakami, Andrey Kurkov, Eileen Myles, Jason Reynolds, Gary Shteyngart, Leïla Slimani, Alejandro Zambra, and many more.
Need a reading recommendation? Check out our World Voices Festival-themed reading lists on Bookshop.org—Reconceptualizing Borders, which includes books on diaspora and borders; Nature, the Gentlest Mother, which features books on the natural world and our environment, and World Verses, a poetry-themed reading list.
Call for volunteers: We're still looking for volunteers to help with our events at various venues around New York’s Greenwich Village. There are many roles for volunteers, who help us make the festival run smoothly for authors and audiences. SIGN UP ››
Join us for Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah’s first U.S. appearance since his momentous Nobel Prize win last October. The author of 10 critically acclaimed novels, including Paradise (1994), Gravel Heart (2017), and Afterlives (2020), Gurnah has been amplifying, rewriting, and centering subjugated histories for the entirety of his career. His vital writing chronicles an Africa on the brink of change while drawing light on the legacies and consequences of European colonialism. This very special opening night event celebrating Gurnah’s body of work and its place within a vibrant and rich canon of African literature, features readings, performances, and conversation with Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Nadifa Mohamed and others. GET TICKETS ››
In a 2018 lecture, PEN Ukraine President Andrey Kurkov said that “democracy is not eternal if it is not supported and not monitored daily, if we do not appreciate our rights and freedoms.” In recent months, Kurkov—along with the Ukrainian people—have embodied that very spirit and offered inspiration to all who value and struggle for freedom around the world. Kurkov will deliver this year’s Arthur Miller Lecture at the 2022 PEN America World Voices Festival, which will be followed by a conversation with novelist Gary Shteyngart. GET TICKETS ››
PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing program recently launched Works of Justice, a monthly newsletter and podcast that explores the relationship between writing and incarceration, and challenges current conversations about criminal justice in the United States. The series spotlights key figures, writers, and artists who are reshaping the conversation on mass incarceration, advocacy, and justice in the United States. SIGN UP ››
Are you an author who's had your work challenged or banned in schools? We are inviting authors to share their personal experience of book bans and offer input on fighting the current wave of school censorship. TAKE THE SURVEY ››
The PEN Ten with Chantal V. Johnson: “I feel like writing is one part reading, one part living, and one part actually writing. So first: read a lot and read widely. Figure out what you like and don’t like and why. Let your taste guide you as you write. Secondly, do stuff out in the world. Work, please. Get yourself into ridiculous situations, and take notes.”
The PEN Ten with Mosab Abu Toha: “A writer must speak on behalf of the unheard, those who cannot articulate well what they feel or see, and most importantly to me, those who lost their lives under the rubble of vicious wars. That’s part of resistance—keeping memories of oneself and others, eternalizing shared feelings in human life.”
Join The New Republic for a livestream of our Salon book series featuring author Kim Kelly and Laura Marsh, TNR’s literary editor, as they talk about Fight Like Hell, a definitive history of the labor movement and the people who risked everything to win fair wages, better working conditions, disability protections, and an eight-hour workday. Learn more and register here ››
Mona Mansour's THE VAGRANT TRILOGY delves into the Palestinian struggle for home & identity. In 1967, Adham, a Palestinian Wordsworth scholar, goes to London to deliver a lecture. When war breaks out at home, he must decide in an instant what to do—a choice that will affect the rest of his life. More info at publictheater.org/vagrant ››
Qian Julie Wang, author of the acclaimed memoir Beautiful Country, will deliver the annual Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe Distinguished Lecture in Urban History, in which she will consider her own childhood journey in the wider context of immigrant narratives in NYC. Following her talk, she will be joined in conversation with poet and cultural critic Ken Chen.Get tickets ››
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