PEN America 11: Make Believe

What do you believe? PEN America 11: Make Believe examines—through fiction, poetry, drama, essays, and conversations—the question of belief in all (or many) of its forms. Alesksandar Hemon, Cynthia Ozick, Lynne Tillman, and others imagine books they wish they (or someone else) had written; Sigrid Nunez invents an orphanage full of “rapture children”; and Rivka Galchen pretends to be Lydia Davis and Peter Altenberg. Plus new fiction from Brian Evenson and Roxana Robinson; poetry by Reza Baraheni, Marie Ponsot, and Liu Xiaobo; notes from a manifesto by David Shields—and much, much more. >> Order now

1  Imagine a book you wish had been written, either by yourself or by someone
else, living or dead, real or imaginary;

or

2  Tell us something you believe about books—their power or lack of it,
how they change the world or don’t, what they’ve done for you or failed
to do.

>> Go to the forum

Windeye
by Brian Evenson

Rapture Children
by Sigrid Nunez

Pistachio, Down, and My Fat Uncle
by Rivka Galchen

Welcome to Tyosen™!
by Ed Park

The Trade
by Roxana Robinson

Must Believe
Albert Mobilio talks with Benjamin Anastas, Nadeem Aslam, Brian Evenson, and Jan Kjærstad

Realms of Possibility
Philip Gourevitch talks with Norbert Gstrein and Colum McCann

Fabrications
Richard Ford talks with Nam Le

From Alan's War
by Emmanuel Guibert












The Call
by Khaled al-Berry

Father Chinedu
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Poems
by Kabir

The Book Of
by Christian Hawkey

What God Gave Me
by Cynthia Cruz

Lara Croft
by Bożena Keff

Calling the Characters
by Nancy Willard

Poems
by Liu Xiaobo

Dancing Day I, Dancing Day II
by Marie Ponsot