PEN America’s New President On Cancel Culture, Literature And Politics

Pulitzer-winning playwright (Disgraced, The Invisible Hand, Junk: The Golden Age of Debt) and novelist (the new Homeland Elegies) Ayad Akhtar: “I’m not convinced that literature is the best way to form political opinions. It’s the great form of nuanced intellectual discourse. We can have profound conversations about literature, but I’m not sure that political opinions — like who to vote for — are the purview of literature. But increasingly everything has become politicized, and I think an organization like PEN has to acknowledge that.” – The New York Times