Voices from PEN/Faulkner

By Maddy Kye, Lisa Page Literary Education Fellow Over the course of this academic year, I've been fortunate to serve as the Writer in Residence at two schools in DC: Brightwood Elementary and Center City PCS-Brightwood. The experience has been extremely rewarding,...

In celebration of PEN/Faulkner’s new partnership with New Hampshire Public Radio to produce the fourth season of Check This Out, Executive Director Gwydion Suilebhan sat down with host Rachel Barenbaum. You’re not only a podcaster, you’re a terrific writer. (We first...

By Maddy Kye, Lisa Page Literary Education Fellow When I entered the library of Phelps ACE High School, visiting author H.D. Hunter had his presentation for his novel, Something Like Right, set up on the screen, and the librarian, Mr. Strickland, was organizing pizza...

By Brielle Perry, Literary Education Programs Assistant On a bright February morning, seventeen third graders gather at the front of their classroom. A rare winter sunlight pours through the windows, warming the carpet as they finish their snacks and buzz with excited...

Lakita Wilson sits on a chair in the front of the classroom, surrounded by a dozen third graders at her feet. The children are transfixed by her, listening as she explains the history of the Black Lives Matter movement, how it was ignited by the death of an innocent...

At our Literary State of the Union event, we had the good fortune of hearing from several DC-area writers in response to the following prompt: "What Does Being a Writer Teach Me about the State of the Union?" We are delighted to be able to share two of their...

Even though the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration is virtual this year, we are still incredibly excited to honor the year's best in fiction with you. Join our team in setting the mood by streaming our event playlist, mixing a custom drink, sharing a photo using our...

Finger snaps toppled over one another in the classroom. Rain trickled down the school’s windows, but the excitement of the students wasn’t dulled by the bad weather. Alan King—a poet from Bowie, MD—was discussing his poem “Mr. On-Time” with students at E. L. Haynes...

Though the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration is virtual this year, we are still incredibly excited to honor the year's best in fiction with you. Join our team in setting the mood by streaming our event playlist, mixing a custom drink, and putting your literary...

We're delighted to present this essay by Jennifer Cheng, our incredible Literary Outreach/Education Programs intern who joined us this past winter/spring, about an experience at an author visit that impacted her. Bringing Worlds to Life: Fostering Empathy and...

“I would say I most relate to Ross from Friends.” Laying on my mom’s studio carpet, phone pressed to my ear, I smiled in response to my friend’s observation. We were in the midst of a conversation about which TV show characters we relate to the most and, after...

I have been reading since I was two years old, and there are so many reasons that I fall in love with a book. Sometimes the way a sentence is written is so beautiful, I read it over and over to let it fill my soul with its magic. Sometimes the way a character is...

This fall, we were joined by wonderful interns who each wrote about an experience at an author visit that impacted them. We are thrilled to present this essay by Isabel Callahan and Melissa Young, our Literary Outreach/Education Programs interns. “So...

This fall, we were joined by wonderful interns who each wrote about an experience at an author visit that impacted them. We are delighted to present this essay by Isabel Callahan, one of our Literary Outreach/Education Programs interns. Visit Story – Patrice...

This fall, we were joined by wonderful interns who each wrote about an experience at an author visit that impacted them. We are delighted to present this essay by Melissa Young, one of our Literary Outreach/Education Programs interns. DC International School’s...

Championing the Breadth and Power of Fiction The work of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation began in 1980, when National Book Award-winner Mary Lee Settle set out to create a new prize for fiction in the United States. Judged entirely by writers, free of commercial...

As has been established by multiple research studies, books and reading have a profound impact on a child’s academic achievement and post-graduation employment success. A 2012 report by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution found that “over the past forty...

We continue our spotlight on the wonderful interns we worked with this spring with an essay by our Research and Evaluation intern, Alice Tsai. As the population of the United States becomes increasingly diverse, it is important that students are in classrooms that are...

This spring, we were joined by incredible interns who each wrote essays inspired by their time in the organization. We are thrilled to present the second essay by Natalie Davis, our spring Education Programs intern. “Twilight Is My Harry Potter” Author’s Note: The...

This spring, we were joined by Natalie Davis, our amazing Education Programs intern, who wrote two essays inspired by her time in the organization. We are excited to share the first of them with you. “A Street Where Books and YouTube Meet” There was a time where I...

PEN/Faulkner extends its condolences to the family and friends of George Floyd and the countless black families who have lost loved ones at the hands of the police. We stand in solidarity with activists, racial justice advocates, and other members of the...

Ten percent. In 2018, that was the percentage of published children’s books that featured a character who was African or African American. Ten percent. The total percentage of children’s books featuring African or African American, Asian Pacific American, Latinx, or...

The name PEN/Faulkner may conjure images of literary delights, from dynamic authors in conversation to our prestigious, peer-juried awards in fiction and the short story. Alongside these nationally-reaching endeavors, we bring more than one hundred writers to schools...

This fall, PEN/Faulkner had the privilege of being joined by three amazing interns. Before they left us, they each wrote essays inspired by their time in the organization. It’s our honor to share them with you. We started with a piece by Anique Jones, continued with a...

This fall, PEN/Faulkner had the privilege of being joined by three amazing interns. Before they left us, they each wrote essays inspired by their time in the organization. It’s our honor to share them with you. We started with a piece by Anique Jones, and we're...

This fall, PEN/Faulkner had the privilege of being joined by three amazing interns. Before they left us, they each wrote essays inspired by their time in the organization. It’s our honor to share them with you, starting with this piece by Anique Jones: LOOKING THROUGH...

On Saturday, October 26th, PEN/Faulkner hosted its 31st annual Gala at the Katzen Center for the Arts. The theme for the evening was "RISE UP!" and 10 incredibly talented writers wrote three-minute essays and poems about what those words meant to them. We were very...

This summer, PEN/Faulkner had the privilege of being joined by three amazing interns: Jess Karan, Anna Hotard, and Olivia Guerrero. Before they left us, they each wrote essays inspired by their time in the organization. It's our honor to share them with you. QUEERING...

In early March I attended the “Diverse Voices in Latinx Children’s Literature” Mini-Conference at the Bank Street College of Education in New York where I had the opportunity to listen to panels about graphic novels and pictures books and how these authors use their...

Today kicks off the DC area Black Lives Matter Week of Action in DC public and charter schools across the city. All this week, PEN/Faulkner's Writers in Schools program will be hosting conversations between Black writers and students in schools across four wards of...

Not surprisingly, we’re a staff of book lovers and voracious readers. We asked around our office for the best book our staff and interns read this year. While this list doesn’t always include books published in 2018, we hope you’ll find something new to pick up, or to...

Washington, DC: The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is delighted to announce the selection of Gwydion Suilebhan as the organization’s new Executive Director. Suilebhan, who is currently serving as the Director of Brand and Marketing for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, will be...

1. Handmaids from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Forced to live as obedient servants in a dystopian world of totalitarian theocratic rule, the handmaids fight back to regain female agency. The government mandates that each handmaid wear a long red dress,...

Pride Month is drawing to a close, but it doesn’t have to be June to read, enjoy, and celebrate literary works by LGBTQ+ authors! Here’s a list of some award-winning contemporary books by LGBTQ+ writers to drop in your checkout bin. Her Body and Other Parties (2017)...

When D.C. Conspiracy founding member Matt Dembicki walked into the last session of this year’s PEN/Faulkner’s Summer Supper and Book Club, he was carrying a massive portfolio of current projects—including sheets detailing his creative process, a stack of Magic Bullet...

You are the experts. You know more about these stories than I do. David Harris Ebenbach, poet, playwright, academic, and author of the 2005 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winning short story collection Between Camelots, said this to the PEN/Faulkner Summer Supper &...

On July 15th, the PEN/Faulkner Summer Supper and Book club played host to Danielle Evans, author of the critically acclaimed 2010 debut, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, a collection of eight stories. Evans, whose writing has been described by The New York...

So far, 2014 may be best known as the year of the polar vortex so far, but we're not letting the cold (or the school delays and closures) get us down. Already we have plans for Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of the acclaimed novel Wench all set to discuss Solomon...

When an author comes to DC to read for PEN/Faulkner, we ask if he or she would be willing to participate in Writers in Schools. We lay out the basics of the program—that we aim to serve students in public and public charter high schools by donating books, providing...

The WinS Triathlon with Alison Stewart If you’ve been following the WinS Blog for a while now, you’ve certainly read about the time-honored tradition of the “WinS Marathon.” It’s when a writer visits three or more class sections in a single day, which, given block...

WinS Author Questionnaire with Melanie S. Hatter The WinS Questionnaire is back, and we’re featuring writer Melanie S. Hatter in this first installment of the school year! When Hatter set out to write the novel that would eventually become The Color of My Soul, she...

Today marks the end of the 2013-2013 school year in Washington, DC. You could sum up the past 40 weeks worth of Writers in Schools activities with a few numbers: 140 visits, 26 public and public charter schools, 42 instructors, 2,100 participating students, 3,300...

Dedicated PEN/Faulkner board member. Engaged Writers in Schools author. Fantastic lunch partner. These are only a couple of the qualities of author and former PEN/Faulkner board member Yolanda Young. She visited every single section of ninth grade English at Ballou...

  Way back in August we released the list of writers who would participate in the 2012-2013 Reading Series and, while in Washington, would go on a Writers in Schools visit. As librarian Sarah Elwell looked over the list, she remarked, almost in passing, “Terry...

  Last week's visit to Anacostia High School with author Dolen Perkins-Valdez provided students the opportunity to engage the author on a number of issues—including class, race, love, and history—that are central to Perkins-Valdez's novel Wench. It also provided the...

WinS is having a banner week here in DC as local authors are lined up for 17 individual school visits throughout the District. While you may have noticed a bit of silence here on the WinS blog as a result, something occurred to me this week on a visit to Howard...

James Grady is the author of over a dozen novels, including Six Days of the Condor, later adapted for a film starring Robert Redford. But his high profile novels weren’t up for discussion last week as he gathered with a group of students at Trinity College in...

E. Ethelbert Miller is the kind of person who knows something about everything. On our ride over to Thurgood Marshall Academy in Anacostia, we discussed, in no particular order, Valentine’s Day, the prison-industrial complex, college basketball, and Frederick...

     Back in December I was lucky enough to go along while Dolen Perkins-Valdez visited an extraordinary group of 10th graders at the SEED School of D.C. It was a two-part visit, with students discussing two of Dolen’s short stories early in the week, and the...

  Together, under the moniker Ella Monroe, Amy Reingold and Maz Rauber wrote the highly anticipated Capital Girls trilogy. The first installment was released in August and immediately began generating comparisons to hit series like Gossip Girl and Pretty Little...

  A little over a month after DCPS released its data on graduation rates, I found myself faced with another sobering statistic. Nationwide only 40% of teen mothers graduate from high school, and less than two percent go on to earn a college degree by the time they’re...

  Steve Luxenberg is as familiar with Baltimore and Washington, DC as just about anyone. In 1985, after an eleven year tenure with The Baltimore Sun, Luxenberg joined The Washington Post as deputy editor of the investigative/special projects staff. In 1991, he...

  Last week was a doozy around the PEN/Faulkner offices. On Sunday, Dec. 2nd, we launched the Hill Center Reading Series and on Friday, Dec. 7th, we honored 2012 PEN/Malamud Award recipient James Salter.  On the 6th, D.C.-based author Maud Casey visited two classes at...

  Last Thursday one teacher, one writer, and 70 Coolidge High School sophomores made Writers in Schools history. They had three WinS visits in a single day. It's not uncommon for three (or more) visits to occur in one day, but normally they are spread out over...

   Argentinian author Federico Falco discusses the differences between writing novels and short fiction, a topic among many discussed during last week's visit to Bell Multicultural High School.  As you could probably tell from our previous posts, we were pretty...

  Zimbabwean author and recent resident of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, Christopher Mlalazi, recently visited Coolidge High School to talk about his new memoir, Running With Mother.    Last week we were lucky enough to host...

  During a recent visit with author Danielle Evans to two writing classes at Trinity College, Evans was quick to point out that while for many authors (herself included) personal experience may inform her fiction, the stories found in her collection Before You...

We'll not mince words here: George Pelecanos is incredible. The prolific author, script writer, and television producer (and let's not forget PEN/Faulkner Board Member) is beloved by students and Writers in Schools instructors for a reason: because the man cares about...

Summer Program Update With Gretchen Barkhuff   Goodbyes have never been my strong suit. In some ways, they are a bit like writing conclusions for a paper: you look back, wrapping up what you did and tying up loose ends, but you also need to look forward and...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff   Maud Casey, author of The Shape of Things to Come, joined us on August 7th for the last day of our summer 2012 writing workshop. The workshop topic for our final week was revision, and Casey came with many clever tips...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff Last Tuesday, July  31st, poet Derrick Weston Brown led the summer program students in a fun and lively discussion based off of his poetry collection entitled Wisdom Teeth. One of the students asked Weston Brown why he chose...

Do you remember the childhood game "Telephone" (or "Whisper Down the Lane"), where the first person in a line would whisper a phrase to the person behind them? This process is continued down the line—the phrase being repeated and often reinterpreted—until the last...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff Author Dolen Perkins-Valdez stopped by the workshop this past Tuesday, July 24th, to discuss her short story, “The Clipping.” “The Clipping” explores the weight of memory as a haunting family past of a lynched ancestor bleeds...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff “If someone gives you an opportunity, hijack it and make it the best possible thing it can be,” author James Grady advised the summer workshop students. Grady—a thriller and noir writer— was excited to work with our young...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff Novelist Susan Richards Shreve led a fun and thought-provoking conversation on writing and characters this past Tuesday, July 10th, at the summer program. The students read her novel Plum & Jaggers which is a truly...

W. Ralph Eubanks visits the summer program.

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff   The summer program is off to an amazing start. We have a wonderful group of high school students that were ready to jump right in on the first day. As a warm up activity we did a writing relay race outside. Two teams...

Summer Program Update by Gretchen Barkhuff It has been quite a busy week here at the PEN/Faulkner office! The summer program starts today and, as the Education and Development intern, I’ve been brainstorming writing activities, finalizing lesson plans, and compiling...

Hi! My name is Gretchen Barkhuff and I am excited to be the new Education and Development intern here at PEN/ Faulkner. This summer I will be helping to organize and lead the Summer Writing Workshops for high school students as part PEN/ Faulkner’s Writers in Schools...

A Reflection by 2011 Gala Essay Contest Winner Laneisha McCauley In September Laneisha McCauley was selected as one of the winners of our Gala Essay Contest and was asked to read her essay at the Folger Shakespeare Library alongside writers including Al Young, Natasha...

Filipa Calado accompanied local writer Leslie Pietrzyk to School Without Walls where Mr. Ismail's AP class had discussed the novel Pears on a Willow Tree. Filipa's account of the visit follows. In early March, Leslie Pietrzyk stopped by the School Without Walls to...

Teen Parent Book Club Update On Monday, Yasmin Shiraz visited the Teen Parent Book Club at the Anacostia New Heights Center. After a few weeks of reading her novel Retaliation, students were ready and excited to ask questions about Ms. Shiraz’s story of violence in a...

For Chris Adrian, On His Birthday On November 7th we took Reading Series author (and New Yorker “20 Under 40” notable) Chris Adrian into Bell Multicultural High School librarian Sarah Elwell’s book club to talk about his story collection, A Better Angel. What we...

  To kick off a running series about "How to Prepare for a WinS Visit," we've asked PEN/Faulkner board member, author, and longtime WinS collaborator Yolanda Young (On Our Way to Beautiful) to guest-blog about how she gets ready to visit DC high schools to...