S7 Ep. 34: Prizes and Protests: Monica Youn on PEN, Activism at Literary Awards, and Gaza

fiction/non/fiction

Following the cancellation of PEN America’s annual literary awards ceremony as well as its World Voices Festival, acclaimed poet Monica Youn joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about political protests and literary prizes. Youn recounts the sequence of events that led her and eight other finalists for PEN’s $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award—as well as a number of nominees in other categories—to withdraw their work from consideration in protest of PEN’s position on Gaza. She explains how PEN’s efforts regarding Gaza and Palestine have failed to match its advocacy for writers in danger in other places, like Ukraine, and discusses whether the organization is living up to its mission to protect free expression. She also describes the situation for student protesters on her own campus, the University of California, Irvine. Youn reads from her most recent collection, From From.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Monica Youn

• From From
• Blackacre
• Ignatz
• Barter

Others:

• "PEN America calls off awards ceremony amid criticism over its response to Israel-Hamas war," by Hillel Italie |AP News
• "The PEN Awards and World Voices Festival Are on the Brink of Collapse," by Dan Sheehan | Literary Hub
• "A Leading Free Expression Group Is Roiled by Dissent Over Gaza," by Jennifer Schuessler | The New York Times
• American Writers Against the Vietnam War | Wikipedia
• Fiction/Non/Fiction: Season 5, Episode 10: “‘How on Earth Do You Judge Books?’ Susan Choi and Oscar Villalon on the Story Behind Literary Awards”
• Anthony Cody
• Mai Der Vang
• Suzanne Nossel
• Natalie Diaz
• “PEN Union Cries Foul in Contract Talks as Criticism of PEN America Intensifies,” by Jill Milliot and Sophia Stewart | Publishers Weekly

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices