An Interview with Larry Siems, Director of the PEN American Center Freedom to Write Project: Part One
The conversation we’re having at PEN these days is, ‘what is the role of literature at a time that we’re in right now’, like any number of nations that have come through a time where the government has committed human rights abuses. What does literature do at that moment?
–Larry Siems
Larry Siems is the Director of the PEN American Center’s Freedom to Write Project. He has worked to support writers facing persecution in Nigeria, China, Turkey, and the U.S. Siems is also an accomplished poet and author in his own right who received numerous accolades for his book Between the Lines: Letters between Undocumented Mexican and Latin American Immigrants and Their Families and Friends (Harper Collins). He offers the rare, inspiring combination of fervent advocacy and a passion for the creative arts.
Siems spoke to FictionthatMatters about his work. I divided the interview into two parts because he speaks in depth about a variety of complex subjects. This first half is roughly dedicated to literature and letters. The second half will focus on his work as an activist.
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan (c) 2009.
