PEN AMERICA

2025 World Voices Festival

colorful book with tagline: "for the love of books"

Celebrating International Literature

Two women speak into microphones at a book literary festival event. The image is framed by an open book—one woman smiles in a light yellow dress, while the other, in a purple top, gestures as she speaks.

The World Voices Festival, founded in 2004 by Salman Rushdie, Esther Allen, and Michael Roberts is PEN America’s celebration of international literature and writers. Honoring our organization’s hundred-year history of uniting writers and readers to celebrate creative expression and the freedom to write for all, the Festival was founded in the wake of 9/11 to counter U.S. isolationism and broaden the channels of dialogue between the United States and the world.

Taking place from April 30th through May 3rd with more than 100 writers from 35 countries, the 2025 festival will celebrate great writing and the power of storytelling against the current headwinds of attacks by those who seek to censor and silence. This gathering of writers from every part of the globe is a potent reminder—in fact, an antidote in an era of censorship—that books drive culture and identity, while empowering and transforming our lives.

A woman in a floral dress and glasses and a man in a suit hold microphones while speaking at a book literary festival, each framed separately with a yellow border.
A man stands in front of a PEN America backdrop, and three smiling women pose together at a table in a library, capturing the spirit of a book literary festival. Both images appear inside an illustrated open book.

This festival embodies our belief that poets, authors, and journalists, that literature writ broadly is a bulwark against the rising tide of autocratic powers threatening democratic values.

Thank You 2025 Presenting Sponsors

Black and white logo with bold letters “NYC” on the left and the words “Cultural Affairs” in smaller, simple font on the right.
The Poetry Foundation logo featuring the word POETRY in bold black letters divided by red lines, with FOUNDATION in white letters on a red rectangle below and a black Pegasus graphic at the bottom.
Bold purple lowercase letters tdf, often associated with creative literary festival sponsors, centered on a plain white background.

This Year’s NYC Voices

View All NYC Speakers
A diagonal grid of colorful book covers on a purple background, featuring titles such as The Accidentals, Lessons for Survival, Spellbound, and My Beloved Life, with illustrations and bold typography.

Festival Reading Lists

Let’s get ready to read! The latest releases from festival authors are available on Bookshop.org. Or just have your lists ready for when you come to the Indie Book Fair IRL on Saturday in NYC!

Get the lists

This Year’s LA Voices

View LA Speakers