Robert Stone wrote eight novels, as well as numerous short stories and a memoir. In his writing, Stone vividly captured the chaos and elation of the 1960s and the darkness at the heart of American empire-building. His novel Dog Soldiers won t

Episode 53 – Louise Erdrich

Feb 22nd, 2017

The PEN/Faulkner Podcast is back! Louise Erdrich is the author of fourteen novels, a volume of short stories, several books of poetry, and a series of children’s books. Her novel The Round House won the 2012 National Book Award; she is … Contin

Episode 52 – Edna O’Brien

Jun 21st, 2016

Edna O’Brien at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue Moderated by PEN/Faulkner Board Director Emeritus Stephen Goodwin Edna O’Brien has been hailed as the doyenne of Irish literature. From the beginning of her career, O’Brien broke literary ground, wri

Episode 51 – Mitchell S. Jackson and Leslie Jamison

Apr 19th, 2016

I Feel Your Pain: An Evening with Mitchell S. Jackson and Leslie Jamison Moderated by PEN/Faulkner Board President Richard McCann Mitchell S. Jackson’s novel The Residue Years, the winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, is b

Episode 50 – Celeste Ng & John Wray

Apr 6th, 2016

Celeste Ng and John Wray joined us on February 23rd at the Folger Shakespeare Library to explore family secrets and expectations, adolescent yearning and the fascination with danger. Continue reading →

Episode 49 – Deborah Eisenberg

Dec 21st, 2015 1h 1m

In Episode 49 of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast, we present the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction to Deborah Eisenberg. Eisenberg reads here from the short story “Your Duck is My Duck,” published in Fence Magazine. Subscribe to the po

Episode 48 – Replacement Lives

Dec 7th, 2015 1h 24m

Replacement Lives: An Evening with David Bezmozgis, Boris Fishman, and Lara Vapnyar, Moderated by Olga Grushin This evening was co-hosted by the Washington, DC JCC. David Bezmozgis, Boris Fishman, and Lara Vapnyar were all born in the Soviet Un

Episode 47 – SPARK: The 27th Annual PEN/Faulkner Celebration

Nov 10th, 2015 52m 5s

Back row, from left: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Elliot Ackerman, Molly Antopol, Justin Taylor, T. Geronimo Johnson, and Marlon James. Front row, from left: Kseniya Melnik, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Susan Coll, Julie Otsuka, Jocelyn Reyes, and Celia Cald

Episode 46 – 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony

Jun 24th, 2015 55m 1s

Episode 46 features the 35th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Reading, which was held at the Folger Shakespeare Library here in Washington, DC on May 2nd, 2015. Continue reading →

Episode 45 – Where We Are From: Place and Personhood in Fiction with Allan Gurganus and Elizabeth Strout

Jun 10th, 2015 1h 17m

The next installment of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast features Allan Gurganus and Elizabeth Strout in conversation with Linda Holmes at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Continue reading →

Episode 44 – Brando Skyhorse at Hill Center

May 18th, 2015 59m 47s

The next installment of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast features Brando Skyhorse, author of The Madonnas of Echo Park and Take This Man, in conversation with Lisa Page. Continue reading →

Episode 43 – An Evening with T.C. Boyle

Apr 21st, 2015 1h 23m

In Episode 43 of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast, we present an evening with novelist T.C. Boyle, who read from his newest novel, The Harder They Come, and spoke in conversation with Michelle Brafman. T.C. Boyle is the author of twenty-five books of f

Episode 42 – The Imaginary Real

Mar 19th, 2015 1h 23m

In Episode 42 of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast, Man Booker Prize finalist Ruth Ozeki and Guggenheim Fellow and short story writer Claire Vaye Watkins read from their work and discuss the fine line between real and imagined experience. Ruth Ozeki is

Episode 41 – In The Beginning Was The Word: An Evening with James Carroll and Marilynne Robinson

Feb 24th, 2015 1h 23m

In Episode 41 of the PEN/Faulkner Podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson and National Book Award-winning fiction and nonfiction writer James Carroll read from their new novels and discuss – among many other topics – the r

Episode 40 – The Legacy of Bernard Malamud

Feb 9th, 2015 1h 25m

In Episode 40 of the PEN/Faulkner podcast, we bring you a celebration of what would have been American master Bernard Malamud’s 100th year. Continue reading →

Episode 39 – A Remembrance of Robert Stone

Jan 28th, 2015 9m 38s

In Episode 39 of the PEN/Faulkner podcast, our Executive Director Emma Snyder and former Board President Stephen Goodwin remember Robert Stone.Continue reading →

Episode 38 – Maureen Corrigan & Jackson Bryer at Hill Center

Jan 23rd, 2015 1h 10m

Episode 38 of the PEN/Faulkner podcast features writer and NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan discussing her second book, So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, with F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar Jackson Bryer. Continue

Episode 37 – In This Way Comes Morning: New Writing of the West African Diaspora

Jan 9th, 2015 1h 30m

The past few years have been a particularly fertile period for American publishing from authors of Nigerian and West African origin. In Episode 37 of the PEN/Faulkner podcast, we brought Okey Ndibe, Chinelo Okparanta, and Taiye Selasi togethe

Episode 36 – Timothy Denevi & Judith Warner at Hill Center

Dec 23rd, 2014 1h 1m

Episode 36 of the podcast brings you an event featuring authors Timothy Denevi & Judith Warner, who read from their work and discuss ongoing research, trends, and attitudes related to the diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivi

Episode 35 – A Storied Future: Emerging Writers of the Virginia Quarterly Review

Dec 9th, 2014 1h 37m

Since 1925, the storied literary and cultural journal Virginia Quarterly Review has been publishing thought-provoking works of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and journalism. Episode 35 of the PEN/Faulkner podcast features a collaborative event be

Episode 34 – The 26th Annual PEN/Faulkner Gala: “Danger”

Jul 21st, 2014 1h 6m

Episode 34 brings you the 26th anniversary of the PEN/Faulkner Gala, which was held on October 6th, 2014. Continue reading →

Episode 33 – Readings from our Summer Supper & Book Club

Jul 20th, 2014

Episode 33 features readings from PEN/Faulkner’s Summer Supper and Book Club, which met weekly for seven weeks at the Hill Center in the summer of 2014. We discussed books, poems, and stories by authors Susan Richards Shreve (Plum and Jaggers

Episode 32 – 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony

Jun 3rd, 2014 1h 12m

Episode 32 features the 34th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Reading, which was held at the Folger Shakespeare Library here in Washington, DC on May 10th, 2014. Continue reading →

Episode 31 – Rebecca Mead in Conversation with Hanna Rosin & Margaret Talbot

Jun 2nd, 2014 41m 55s

Episode 31 of the podcast brings you a reading by New Yorker Staff Writer and author Rebecca Mead discussing her book My Life in Middlemarch and engaging in a conversation about the book with the Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin and the New Yorker’s Marg

Episode 30: Two Lives in Language – Amy Tan & Deborah Tannen in Conversation

May 7th, 2014 1h 37m

Episode 30 features an event we called “Two Lives in Language: Amy Tan & Deborah Tannen in Conversation.” The bestselling authors and longtime friends read from their work, discussed their relationship to the written word, and explored the ways