The word SPEAKERS in bold yellow text is displayed against a black background with abstract book-like shapes.
  • A man with a shaved head wearing a dark shirt stands outside with blurred city buildings in the background. The image is in black and white.

    Paul David Young

    Paul David Young is a playwright, translator, and critic. His translations, with Carl Weber, of Heiner Müller’s Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome and Macbeth were published by…

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  • A middle-aged man with gray hair and a beard is smiling gently. He is wearing a green jacket over a collared shirt. The background is blurry and appears to be outdoors.

    George Packer

    George Packer is a US journalist, award winning author, playwright and a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of 10 books, including The Unwinding: An Inner…

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  • A person with long dark hair and glasses is wearing a sheer white top and large blue geometric earrings. They have a tattoo on their left arm and are standing against a plain background, smiling gently.

    Lily Philpott

    Lily Philpott is an Indigenous transracial adoptee born in Chile and raised in New England. She has worked for over a decade in the arts and culture…

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  • A person with curly red hair sits on a brown leather chair, wearing a purple blouse and black pants. There’s a lit fireplace in the background, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere.

    Jodi Picoult

    Jodi Picoult is the #1 bestselling author of many novels including My Sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, The Storyteller, Leaving Time, Small Great Things, A Spark of Light,…

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  • A person with long dark hair and purple glasses sits on a wooden bench outdoors, wearing a blue patterned shirt and black pants, surrounded by green foliage.

    Francine Prose

    Francine Prose is the author, most recently, of the memoir 1974. Her works of fiction include the highly acclaimed The Vixen; Mister Monkey; the New York Times…

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  • Black and white portrait of a woman with curly hair, smiling slightly. Shes wearing a sleeveless top and looking slightly to the right. The background is plain.

    Emily Raboteau

    Emily Raboteau writes at the intersection of social and environmental justice, race, climate change, public art, and parenthood. Her most recent book is Lessons for Survival, shortlisted…

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  • A person with short, light hair and a slight smile wears a black shirt and sits against a textured, dark background.

    Oliver Radclyffe

    Oliver Radclyffe is part of the new wave of transgender writers unafraid to address the complex nuances of transition, examining the places where gender identity, sexual orientation,…

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  • A person with curly hair and a beard is wearing a black shirt and looking directly at the camera against a dark background.

    Anouar Rahmani

    Anouar Rahmani is an Algerian novelist, journalist, and human rights defender whose literary work boldly challenges societal norms and advocates for freedom of expression, LGBTQ+ rights, and…

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  • A person with short hair in a black suit and white shirt smiles slightly while looking into the camera. They are standing in front of a blurred brick wall background.

    Ben Rhodes

    Ben Rhodes is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, co-host of Pod Save the World, a contributor to MSNBC, and the author of two…

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  • A woman with long, curly black hair is wearing a black top and a gold necklace. She is looking directly at the camera against a plain, light gray background.

    Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf

    Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf joined PEN America in 2015 and currently serves as the chief program officer of Literary Programming. Beginning in Nov 2024, she is also serving…

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  • A person with short brown hair and facial hair is facing the camera with a neutral expression. They are outdoors with a clear blue sky and distant horizon in the background.

    Sam Sacks

    Sam Sacks has written the Fiction Chronicle for the Wall Street Journal since 2011. His essays and criticism have also appeared in Harper’s, The London Review of Books,…

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  • An older man with glasses smiles softly against a gray background. He is wearing a dark sweater over a light shirt.

    Bernhard Schlink

    Bernhard Schlink was born in Germany in 1944. A professor emeritus of law at Humboldt University, Berlin, and Cardozo Law School, New York, he is the author…

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  • A woman with wavy black hair sits against a plain gray background. She rests her chin on her hand, wearing a sleeveless beige top and black pants, with a star-shaped necklace. Her expression is contemplative.

    Tanya Selvaratnam

    Tanya Selvaratnam is an Emmy-nominated and multiple Webby-winning filmmaker; and the author of Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence and THE BIG LIE. She is the…

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  • Elderly person with curly hair and glasses, wearing a necklace and a dark top, looking at the camera with a neutral expression in a black-and-white photo.

    Olive Senior

    Olive Senior is the award-winning author of twenty books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s literature. She was the Poet Laureate of Jamaica from 2021 to 2024,…

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  • A black-and-white portrait of a bearded man with curly hair, wearing a patterned blazer, a shirt, and a scarf. He looks at the camera with a calm expression, set against a blurred indoor background.

    Omaid Sharifi

    Omaid Sharifi is an acclaimed artivist and the President of ArtLords, a global collective of artivists dedicated to harnessing creativity for social transformation and advocating artistic freedom worldwide. With…

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  • A person with long dark hair tied back, wearing a white top, looking at the camera. They are outdoors against a blurred cityscape background.

    Shiori Itō

    Shiori Ito is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. Her primary focus is gender-based human rights issues. In 2020, TIME magazine named her as one of the…

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