Out of the Abyss: Yiyun Li and Édouard Louis

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

How does one accept the unimaginable? How do we move forward from life-changing events or constricting circumstances?

Two of our most inventive and fearless writers, Yiyun Li (Things in Nature Merely Grow) and Édouard Louis (Collapse, tr. Tash Aw), come together with their editor, President and Publisher of Farrar Straus and Giroux, Mitzi Angel, to discuss how writing can be both an act of radical acceptance and transcendence. In Things in Nature Merely Grow, Li writes about living in the aftermath of the loss of her children to suicide. In Collapse, and across his body of work, Louis chronicles his childhood in a poor, working-class community in France and the violence and homophobia he endured growing up.

Don’t miss this powerful conversation with Li and Louis, as they reflect on coming out of the darkness.

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, over 140 writers from over 40 countries will be featured in 40 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 venue is ADA compliant. The space is accessible via elevator.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our Box Office team at [email protected] by April 16th 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]

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