The Magazine
“For anyone who believes that words can help us chart a path, the magazine of PEN International is essential reading.”
Alberto Manguel
“Reading in the pages of PEN International’s literary review, we celebrate not just our differences but also our common humanity and universal values.”
Azar Nafisi
The Magazine, PEN International’s quarterly literary review, features original work by contemporary writers from around the world, for readers around the world. Contributors include some of the most illustrious writers working today, as well as emerging writers from uncharted literary territory.
Founded in 1950 as Bulletin of Selected Books, it was originally a compendium of literary reviews with a focus on world literature. Over the years, as PEN International Magazine, it expanded to include essays, short stories and poems, whether original or reprinted from other sources. Contributors to the magazine have included:
Adonis, Margaret Atwood, Urvashi Butalia, Lydia Cacho, Karel Capek, Ernesto Cardenal, Patrick Chamoiseau, Siobhan Dowd, Nawal El Saadawi, Moris Farhi, Antonia Fraser, Petina Gappah, Nadine Gordimer, Günter Grass, Han Suyin, Liu Hongbin, Chenjerai Hove, Aamer Hussein, James Kelman, Tabish Khair, Alberto Manguel, Salim Matar, Azar Nafisi, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ben Okri, Moniro Ravanipour, Salman Rushdie, Rafik Schami, Wole Soyinka, Hilary Spurling, Michela Wrong, ang Lian, Nurmuhemmet Yasin and many others!
In 2007 the magazine began publishing biannually, and acquired its first dedicated editor and a new editorial direction featuring a greater focus on original commissions, regular special guest writers and a new design.
In 2010, as International PEN became PEN International, the magazine began its own transformation from a 96-page printed format to an online-only publication known simply as The Magazine (forthcoming in 2012). No longer restricted to limited print runs, The Magazine will add new content on a quarterly basis (i.e. four times per year) and reach more readers internationally than ever before.
We hope you’ll join us in January, as both readers and as writers. See our submission guidelines here.
Meanwhile, you can enjoy abridged versions of past editions published between 2007–10 by clicking on the images above.
The Magazine is generously supported in part by the Sigrid Rausing Trust.
