PEN America launches 'PEN Presents' 2019 series with Samantha Jayne of 'Quarter Life Poetry' and NeueHouse Hollywood
Next week, PEN America will launch its 2019 LA-based 'PEN Presents' series, which will include several conversations throughout the year that will focus on page-to-screen adaptations, and explore how writing inspires visual storytelling. PEN Presents celebrates the power of words to inform, entertain, stimulate, inspire, and foster a vital literary culture.
The series will kick off on March 21 at NeueHouse Hollywood with Samantha Jayne, the writer, star, and creator of Quarter Life Poetry, alongside director, Arturo Perez, Jr. Quarter Life Poetry originated on Instagram and Tumblr, was then published as a collection by Hachette Book Group in 2016, and finally debuted on-screen at Sundance Film Festival this year to rave reviews. Quarter Life Poetrywas acquired by FX, a subsidiary of the FOX Network, and the TV series is slated for a spring 2019 release.
“We are thrilled to launch the 2019 PEN Presents series with a project as innovative as Quarter Life Poetry,” said Michelle Franke, PEN America’s Los Angeles Executive Director. “With the amount of remarkable adaptations being presented this year, it only felt natural to make page-to-screen the theme connecting our conversation series. Alongside NeueHouse Hollywood, we are looking forward to exploring and celebrating the power of storytelling across mediums.”
Samantha Jayne is the writer and actress of Quarter Life Poetry. She’s also the author of Quarter Life Poetry: Poems for the Young, Broke & Hangry, which has sold around the world. Through her work, Jayne hopes to connect with others and facilitate dialogue about silent struggles like anxiety.
Arturo Perez Jr. is a film and music-video director. He is one of the pioneer directors of La Blogotheque—a web project that creates unconventional music videos with the world’s top musicians. He was nominated as best director at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards for his music video for Justin Timberlake's “Say Something.” He has collaborated with Paul McCartney, The Killers, The Lumineers, and Edward Sharpe.