The PEN America World Voices Festival is the premier celebration of writing from the United States and around the world.

Schedule of Events:

10:00 AM – 6:00 PM: ArtLords Public Mural – Day 1 at Union Square
ArtLords, together with the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) and the vibrant community of New York City, will ignite the PEN World Voices Festival with an electrifying live mural creation event. This groundbreaking artistic endeavor is poised to magnify the transformative power of art in championing social change, advocating for freedom of expression, and fortifying cultural resilience. The mural will be a canvas of solidarity, embodying the resilient spirit of artists who defy adversity to express their truth. It will intricately interlace narratives of struggle and victory from across the globe, paying homage to those navigating conflict zones or enduring oppressive censorship.
In an inclusive gesture, the community at large is warmly invited to contribute to this monumental canvas of freedom and unity—art materials will be readily provided. Come, join us in painting a vibrant testament to the indomitable spirit of artistic freedom and collective solidarity.
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6:30 PM – 7:45 PM: Mad Honeys: Women in Publishing at Joe’s Pub
Commercial fiction, a genre primarily written for women by women, is often ignored or dismissed by the literary establishment, while simultaneously having a profound resonance with readers and a significant readership. In this intimate discussion with moderator Christina Baker Kline, masterful writers Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan, acclaimed co-authors of NYT bestseller Mad Honey explore the culture of dismissiveness facing writing with predominantly-women readerships, the role of women in the publishing industry today, and the biases women authors must navigate. They’ll also speak to their collaboration during the process of co-authoring Mad Honey.
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6:30 PM – 7:45 PM: The Fantastic, Strange & Uncanny – Kelly Link & Marlon James at AIA Center for Architecture – Tafel Hall
The boundaries between genre fiction and literary fiction have become increasingly porous. In 2018, short story writer and novelist Kelly Link received a MacArthur Genius Grant for “pushing the boundaries of literary fiction in works that combine the surreal and fantastical with the concerns and emotional realism of contemporary life.” In the latest novel of his literary fantasy series the Dark Star Trilogy, Marlon James “toys with the common traits of epic fantasies, giving readers a journey with no destination, an ending that isn’t an ending, and characters who stand in direct opposition to the traditional hero’s journey” (NPR)_. _In this fireside chat, these two masters of fiction, Hugo Award winner and Pulitzer Prize nominee Kelly Link and Booker Prize winner Marlon James, will be joined by moderator Tochi Onyebuchi to discuss how they use genre tropes, the uncanny, the fantastic, and intertexual allusion throughout their respective bodies of work.
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7:00 PM – 8:15 PM: Jewish Faith and Identity at Village Temple
What is Judaism really about? What are its core values and beliefs on what matters most? Rabbi Shai Held (Judaism Is Love) and Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman (To Be a Jew Today) will explore these questions together in an intimate fireside chat, drawing on their new books.
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