The World Voices Festival, founded in 2004 by Salman Rushdie (DG 2022), is PEN America’s celebration of international literature and writers. Honoring PEN’s hundred-year history of uniting writers and readers to celebrate creative expression and the freedom to write for all, the Festival was founded in the wake of 9/11 to counter U.S. isolationism and broaden the channels of dialogue between the United States and the world. Featuring more than 100 writers from 27 countries, the 2023 festival will celebrate great writing and the power of storytelling against the current headwinds of attacks by those who seek to censor and silence. This gathering of writers from every part of the globe is a potent reminder—in fact, an antidote in an era of censorship—that books drive culture and identity, while empowering and transforming our lives.
Click here to see the full list of events in New York and Los Angeles featuring Civitellians such as Maria Fernanda Ampuero (Incoming Writing Fellow 2024), Carolyn Forché (CRF 2012), Masha Gessen (DG 2019), Rachel Kushner (CRF 2016), Samantha Schweblin (CRF 2011), Patricia Smith (CRF 2017), and Monica Youn (CRF 2013, Juror).