PEN America Announces 2026 World Voices Festival After 2024 Cancellation
The literary free speech organization PEN America has announced plans for its 2026 World Voices festival, a major four-day event scheduled to take place in New York and Los Angeles from 29 April to 2 May. This marks a significant revival after the 2024 festival was cancelled due to widespread author withdrawals over the non-profit's stance on the Israel-Gaza war.
Festival Details and Featured Authors
The 2026 festival will showcase writers from over 140 countries, with in-person appearances from prominent authors including Judith Butler, Bill McKibben, Cory Doctorow, Megha Majumdar, and Katie Kitamura. Additional participants will feature Molly Jong-Fast, Sarah Ruhl, Abdellah Taïa, and Ha Jin, among others. In a press release, PEN America billed the event as a "testament to literature's ability to unite us, and to counteract the closed mindedness that has resulted in a nationalist maelstrom." The organization emphasized its commitment to championing writers and their work through this initiative.
Background on the 2024 Cancellation
The 2024 World Voices festival was cancelled after dozens of authors expressed outrage at PEN America's failure to condemn the war in Gaza. An open letter signed by writers such as Naomi Klein, Isabella Hammad, and Zaina Arafat accused the organization of betraying its professed commitment to peace and equality for all. The letter also criticized PEN America for not joining other human rights organizations and United Nations officials in demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Following the cancellation, PEN America issued a statement explaining that "amid this climate, it became impossible to mount the festival in keeping with the principles upon which it was founded 20 years ago."
Leadership and Festival Vision
The 2026 festival is the first since the February appointment of Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf as joint CEOs of PEN America. Festival director Sabir Sultan described the event as "an act of jubilant defiance, an insistence on the power of literature." He added, "In a time of inherent divisions, this year's festival insists on our shared humanity, literature's ability to connect us through our imaginations, and writers' ability to reflect and refract the world around us in transformative ways." The organization drew parallels between the current political climate and that of 2004, when the festival was founded in the wake of 9/11 and the Iraq war to confront cultural isolationism, noting a chilling resemblance to today's era.
Event Highlights and Public Activations
Beyond author talks and panel discussions, the festival will include a slate of public activations around New York. Key events feature:
- The 10th annual Indie Lit Fair in Washington Square.
- A large public mural installed by the Afghan artist collective ArtLords in Union Square.
- A large-scale installation for books from the anti-censorship collective Unbannable Library.
The festival will kick off on 29 April with an opening event titled "Attacks on Democracy: The Plot Against America," featuring Judith Butler, Molly Jong-Fast, and Phil Klay. This evening discussion will assess the health of democracy and explore where the United States is headed, highlighting the festival's focus on pressing social and political issues.
