PEN World Voices Festival

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PEN World Voices Festival

The premier celebration of international literature in the United States. Presented by
PEN America.

03/06/2026

Don’t miss our event Art Under Threat? The Impact of AI On Creative Writing at in Baltimore! Bestselling authors Karen Hao, Vauhini Vara, and Ken Liu (.author) join Co-CEO Summer Lopez in a critical conversation analyzing how rapidly developing AI technology is reshaping the future of literature and humanity, and how authors are navigating the ethics of the threats and possibilities that arise with the burgeoning technology.

https://pen.org/event/impact-of-ai-on-creative-writing/

12/11/2025

Our most recent PEN Ten interview with award winning author Kiran Desai covers her third novel (2025) and her reflections on personal vs. historical narratives

Taking nearly 20 years to complete, latest novel intertwines the past and present to show us that belonging is directly related to perspective

Read the full interview on pen.org

11/26/2025

Our Florida Office hosted a panel discussion at the 🌴 Featuring authors and past PEN Award winners -left- (COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN) and Torrey Peters -center- (DETRANSITION BABY) 🏆🖋️

“Afterglow: Writing After Recognition” was a candid and insightful conversation on the joys and complexities of literary recognition - asking “Is it liberating? Is it stifling? Does the validation propel bold risk-taking or introduce new pressures?”

The panel was moderated by Sabir Sultan, director of the World Voices Festival and Literary Programs at PEN America

11/03/2025

This year’s European Literature Night 2025 saw enthusiastic readers and writers gather at the Ukrainian Institute of America () on the Upper East Side for an evening of stories, voices, and perspectives from across Europe! In a collaboration between EUNIC NYC () and PEN America () that has now reached its 7th edition, European Literature Night celebrates the richness of European experience and heritage through thoughtful discussions, readings, and performances.

This year eleven award-winning writers joined us to explore three urgent topics:

📚 Past’s Presence with Alois Hotschnig, Khuê Phạm, Yunas Hassen Khemiri, Katherine Vaz and Liliana Corobca.

📚 Authoritarianism / Writing War with Artem Chapeye, Peter Osnos, and Antonia Llyod-Jones.

📚 Ties That Bind with Tobi Lakmaker, Ariane Koch, Gabija Grušaitė, and Marek Torčík.

Conversations were moderated by World Voices Festival & Literary Programs Director Sabir Sultan and Manager Sarah Dillard.

During nights like these we cannot forget the amazing work done by literary translators and so many readers showed their support by purchasing English editions of our authors’ novels!

10/21/2025

Join and this Thursday, 10/23 for European Literature Night 2025 📚🌏🍾

Hear from 11 authors representing 11 European countries in panel discussions, intimate readings, and a closing reception.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

6:15 PM The Past’s Presence
Alois Hotschnig (Austria), Khuê Pham (Germany), Liliana Corobca (Romania), Jonas Hassen Khemiri (Sweden) and Katherine Vaz (Portugal) moderated by Sabir Sultan.

7:15 PM Authoritarianism, War, and Writing
Author Artem Chapeye (Ukraine), Peter Osnos (Poland) and Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Poland) moderated by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf.

8:15 PM Ties That Bind
Ariane Koch (Switzerland), Gabija Grusaite (Lithuania), Tobi Lakmaker (Netherlands), and Marek Torčík (Czechia) moderated by Sarah Dillard.

🎟️Free and open to the public with registration🎟️

ELN 2025 is presented by members of EUNIC New York cluster in collaboration with PEN America

10/09/2025

Congratulations to Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai on winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature! 📝 🏆 This accomplishment would not have been reached without Krasznahorkai’s longtime translators into English John Batki, Ottilie Mulzet, & George Szirtes and his publisher

We welcomed László Krasznahorkai at the 2014 PEN World Voices Festival for a master class on writing with the Irish novelist Colm Toibin. Thank you both for sharing your wisdom with our audience! You can watch this World Voices Festival event and more on YouTube channel 🎥

09/23/2025

Prolific African author Alain Mabanckou’s latest novel, ( 2025 translated by Helen Stevenson ) is a phantasmagorical tale of distorted memory, ritualized mourning, and communal unity in the throes of political violence and corruption in Central Africa. In the Congolese city of Pointe-Noire, protagonist Liwa awakens to find himself risen from his own grave. Still wearing the purple flared trousers he died in, Liwa embarks on a spectral journey in search of his beloved grandmother and the explanation of his own demise.

Mabanckou joins us in this interview with Literary Awards Coordinator, Valentine Sargent. Read about how Mabanckou balances fictional narrative with political satire, the literary manifestation of his childhood city, and the boundlessness of literature, even when writing of death itself.

07/18/2025

In his debut novel, - - Aaron John Curtis takes us on a revelatory journey of Abe Jacobs, a Kanien’kehá:ka from Ahkwesáhsne (washed down to ‘Mohawk Indian from the Saint Regis Tribe’), who left the Rez where he grew up for nearly twenty-five years, but goes back after being diagnosed with a rare disease that may end his life. Running from his illness and a crumbling open marriage, Abe is convinced to undergo a healing done by his Great Uncle Budge, forcing him to confront his past.

Read about what it was like for Curtis to draw on his own Native identity and illness while writing the character Abe in our latest interview by Digital Security and Free Expression Program Coordinator, Amanda Wells.

05/13/2025

PART 2: Saturday, May 3rd was the fourth and last day of the

On the west side ending the evening, interim Co-CEO and Program Officer of Free Expression Summer Lopez spoke with Rana Ayyub, PEN America Board Member George Packer, and Patricia Evangelista during our Closing Night event “Under Siege: The Perils of Journalism in an Age of State Repression.”

Earlier in the day, short story writers Aaliyah Bilal and Gina Chung were in conversation with World Voices Festival Manager Sarah Dillard for “Slices of American Life.”

M. Gessen, Yaqiu Wang, and Anna Nemzer spoke with Digital Safety Director Viktorya Vilk in “Erase: Media Erasure and Authoritarianism.”

Also at Judson Memorial Church, Dunya Mikhail was in her second event of the Festival with Tahir Izgil (interpreter Asena Izgil), and moderator Mojgan Gizard for “Writing as Resistance.”

The Children’s and Young Adult Book Committee hosted their own event at the Festival, “Writing Humor for Kids, Seriously” with Cece Bell, Christopher Paul Curtis, Eugene Yelchin, and moderator Elizabeth Levy featuring illustrations from all of the books.

If you attended the 2025 World Voices, please share your photos and tag 📚🌎

📸

05/09/2025

PART 1: Saturday, May 3rd was the fourth and last day of the

On the east side, the Translation Committee hosted their final event of the Festival, “Translation on the Line” with Sawad Hussain, Monica Cure, Michael Eskim, and moderator Sandra Smith.

Meanwhile, continued their public mural painting while began the annual Indie Lit Fair and Vital Voices Reading.

At the writers Emily Raboteau and 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner Marie Howe spoke about climate change with James Tager.

Author Fernanda Trías was in her second event “Bold Voices: Latin American Writers in Conversation” with Guadalupe Nettel, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, and Lily Philpott (this event was simultaneously translated between Spanish and English) and later Daniel Kehlmann was featured in his second event with Amitava Kumar, Reyna Grande, and Sam Sussman during “Shifting Perspectives: From One World to Another”

“Mothers, Sons, and Daughters” were discussed by Adam Haslett, Siri Hustvedt, and Rivka Galchen.

A comedy show concluded the evening with host Murray Hill and comedians Peter Grosz, Molly Kearney, Gastor Almonte, and Joyelle Nicole Johnson.

If you attended the 2025 World Voices, please share your photos and tag 📚🌎

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05/06/2025

Thursday, May 1st was the second day of the

During the day, in collaboration with began painting a mural of solidarity in with members of the public joining in.

Then, the PEN America Translation Committee hosted their first event of the Festival, “Transmediation: Visualizing Verse” with poets Forrest Gander and Moira Egan along with visual artist Raanan Gabriel.

At the same time, PEN America Board Member Jodi Picoult spoke alongside Fiona Davis and moderator Adriana Trigiani for “Through Her Eyes: Exploring Gender Discrimination in Fiction.”

Meanwhile, Joyce Carol Oates and Carmen Bollousa discussed the reissues of their novels in “Bringing Back Books They Love” with Sabir Sultan.

To conclude the evening, PEN America co-presented an event with “On Autocracy and the Slow Death of Democracy” with Burhan Sönmez, Francine Prose, Jason Stanley, Gary Shteyngart, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and moderator Jonathan Friedman of PEN America.

If you attended the 2025 World Voices, please share your photos and tag 📚🌎

📸

05/05/2025

Wednesday, April 30th was the first day of the 2025

Our Opening Night featured event “The Pen and the State: The Role of Novelists in Times of Crisis” was sold out! Writers Burhan Sönmez (President of ), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Jennifer Egan were joined by PEN America’s Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf for a critical conversation on the power of literature.

Earlier in the evening, 2 time Pulitzer Prize winner playwright and PEN Board member Lynn Nottage was joined by Carlyle Brown, Lisa Kron, and Moisés Kaufman for a discussion on “Disappearing Acts: Censorship in American Theater.”

Across the Village at Strand Bookstore we hosted Jamaican writers Olive Senior and Marcia Douglas for an intimate fireside chat on “The Past and Future of Jamaican Literature.”

Lastly, with our incredible partners at The New School, Bernhard Schlink and Claire Messud were moderated by Sam Sacks for “The Winds of History” to discuss how they unearthed long-buried secrets in their books.

If you attended the 2025 World Voices, please share your photos and tag 📚🌎

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http://pen.org/festival

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