The Ground Beneath Our Feet: The Border Rewritten

All PEN World Voices Festival tickets are non-refundable. Please confirm the time and location of your event before finalizing your purchase.

How do you tell the story of the American West without resorting to mythmaking and simplistic manichaeism? How do you reclaim lost histories of the 1800s—when it was a battleground of fledgling republics and Apachería—and what does it signify to those crossing the border today?

Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender (tr. Natasha Wimmer) and Carmen Boullosa’s Texas: The Great Theft (tr. Samantha Schnee) offer riveting fictional accounts of this contested territory, while Reyna Grande’s new book of essays, Migrant Heart, is grounded in contemporary testimony.

Don’t miss this timely discussion moderated by PEN America Board member and author of LatinoLand, Marie Arana.

The 2026 PEN World Voices Festival is a celebration of world literature and free expression. The 2026 edition will be the 21st World Voices Festival. Over four days, more than 140 writers from 40+ countries will be featured in engaging talks, panels, readings, and activations in New York City and greater Los Angeles.

Visit for more information about the entire festival, as well as PEN America.

This space is ADA compliant. A street level accessible entrance is located on 12th street.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our Box Office team at [email protected] by April 15th to request.

Please ask a Box Office Attendant or festival representative upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected]

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Church of the Village, 201 West 13th Street, New York, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Get App