Writing Across Forms: A Conversation with Author-Playwrights

The World Voices Festival is PEN America’s annual celebration of writers, international literature, and free expression. This year’s festival is an insistence on the power of literature and cross-cultural dialogue and a potent reminder—in fact, an antidote in an era of censorship, nativism, and renewed isolationism—that books drive culture and the stories we tell can shape and transform our lives. The Goethe-Institut New York is pleased to host events again this year as part of the festival.

Throughout the twentieth century, it was common for writers to work across forms. Now, however, there is a void between the role of “author” and “playwright” that few dare cross.

Daniel Kehlmann (The Director), Sarah Ruhl (Letters from My Teachers), Betty Shamieh (Too Soon), and Jeremy Tiang (State of Emergency) are some of those rare artists. Playwright MJ Kaufman, currently at work on their first novel, will lead them in a conversation examining the reasons behind this curious divide, and what it means to reject it.

Join them as they discuss how they choose the form best suited for a particular idea, the differences between writing words to be read and words to be heard, and approaching work presented by a team of other creatives versus imparted directly from them to their audience.