Tales
#RefugeesWelcome: the poet and teacher shares his motivations for creating the Refugee Tales project – a literary journey of solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and detainees, modelled on Chaucer’s great poem of travel and storytelling.
PEN Transmissions
Articles
The immigrant
#RefugeesWelcome: a short, powerful extract from the play The Immigrant, written and directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, which turns the story of asylum on its head to ask questions of us all.
‘Does Rahaf have a new doll now?’
The acclaimed children’s author Kirsten Boie reflects on her experience sharing the stories of refugees in Germany – and the capacity of children to empathise across cultures.
Writing to never forget
Writer and former child refugee Yovanka Paquete Perdigao retraces her own journey from Guinea-Bissau to London via Dakar and Lisbon, finding solace and empowerment throughout in her love of literature.
Telling Europe’s stories
The creative producer for the European Literature Festival shares his highlights of 2016, and considers the importance of European stories in Britain after Brexit.
In praise of longhand
The Polish–English literary translator reflects on the UK’s EU membership referendum – its tone and its aftermath – and considers the role of literary translators in this brave new world.
PEN Atlas Q&A: Anjan Sundaram
Journalist Anjan Sundaram talks to English PEN's Robert Sharp about his latest book, Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship
Literatura animal
Galician poet, writer and journalist Manuel Rivas recalls stories from his childhood under Franco's rule. His latest novel, The Low Voices (Harvill Secker), is published this month.
PEN Atlas Q&A: Saša Stanišić
The acclaimed novelist talks to PEN Atlas about history, collective memory and place – the big themes of his latest book, Before the Feast (Pushkin Press).
The great replacement
On the day of #EURef in the UK, award-winning French-Algerian author Faïza Guène highlights the importance of citizen journalism in imagining and understanding Europe.
Am I a European writer?
As PEN Atlas considers the theme of Europe ahead of the UK’s EU membership referendum on 23 June, novelist and essayist Janne Teller reflects on her multiple identities as a writer.