PEN America Revives World Voices Festival After 2024 Cancellation

New York and Los Angeles will once again host the PEN America World Voices Festival, a celebration of international literature and free expression, from April 29 to May 2, 2026. The festival’s return follows a year of controversy that led to the cancellation of the 2024 event.

A Festival Born From Crisis

Founded in the wake of 9/11 and the Iraq War, the PEN World Voices Festival was created as a direct response to a growing sense of cultural isolationism. According to PEN America, the current political climate bears a chilling resemblance to the one that spurred the festival’s inception two decades ago. The 2026 festival aims to reaffirm literature’s power to unite and challenge divisive forces.

Lineup and Events

The 2026 festival will feature over 140 writers from more than 40 countries. Confirmed participants include Judith Butler, Bill McKibben, Cory Doctorow, Megha Majumdar, Katie Kitamura, Molly Jong-Fast, Sarah Ruhl, Abdellah Taïa, and Ha Jin.

The festival will encompass a variety of events, including author talks, panel discussions, and public activations throughout New York City. Highlights include the 10th annual Indie Lit Fair in Washington Square Park, a public mural installation by the Afghan artist collective ArtLords in Union Square, and a large-scale installation featuring books from the anti-censorship collective Unbannable Library.

The festival will kick off on April 29th with an opening event titled “Attacks on Democracy: The Plot Against America,” featuring Butler, Jong-Fast, and Phil Klay. This event will focus on the current state of American democracy.

The 2024 Cancellation and Its Aftermath

The 2024 World Voices Festival was cancelled after dozens of authors protested PEN America’s response to the Israel-Gaza war. An open letter signed by prominent writers, including Naomi Klein, Isabella Hammad, and Zaina Arafat, accused the organization of betraying its commitment to peace and equality by failing to condemn the conflict and call for a ceasefire. The Guardian reported on the controversy.

Following the cancellation, PEN America issued a statement acknowledging that the climate had made it impossible to hold the festival in accordance with its founding principles.

New Leadership

The 2026 festival marks the first event held under the leadership of Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, who were appointed as joint CEOs of PEN America in February.

A Testament to Literature’s Enduring Power

Festival director Sabir Sultan described the 2026 festival as “an act of jubilant defiance, an insistence on the power of literature.” He emphasized the festival’s commitment to showcasing literature’s ability to connect people through imagination and to reflect the world in transformative ways. PEN America stated the event is a “testament to literature’s ability to unite us, and to counteract the closed mindedness that has resulted in a nationalist maelstrom.”