2019 PEN World Voices Festival: My Story, My Journey, My Freedom

PEN America

Soledad Castillo and Gabriel Méndez left Honduras and crossed the southern border into the United States as young teenagers. It wasn’t to “game the system” or commit any crime; it was to escape the dangers of gang violence and the horrors of sexual abuse. Their stories, part of a literature of testimony, are captured and shared by Voice of Witness, an oral history initiative that disseminates the words of the oppressed to fight for human rights. PEN America is proud to welcome Castillo and Méndez, who will describe their journeys from injustice to freedom. They will be joined by Voice of Witness co-founder and bestselling author Dave Eggers, as well as the organization’s executive director Mimi Lok, for a discussion about how individuals’ stories that depict injustice can transform narrators and audiences alike.