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On Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
Say that Lolita is hilarious and excruciating and sad—no novel ever had a sadder last line—but not boring, surely. We throb with the miserable Humbert as he creeps across… More
Announcing the 2012 PEN Translation Fund Grant Recipients
The PEN Translation Fund, now celebrating its ninth year, is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s competition. From a field of 130 applicants, the Fund’s Advisory Board… More
Hillary Gulley on translating Marcelo Cohen
Through translation, inventive turns of phrase and expanded linguistic boundaries imbed themselves in our cultural consciousness like the very stories they tell, and it is from these mutations that… More
On James Joyce’s Ulysses
Until I graduated from college—and had to find a job, get my heart broken, bear the burden of being a twenty-something during recession, watch friends go to rehab, watch… More
On Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War
The Chocolate War (along with its sequel) has been consistently challenged and criticized by schools, libraries, and parents for its language, sexual content, violence, and bleak message. At the… More
On John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
The story is a tragedy predicated on the idea that working one’s fingers to the bone for little pay and no security is fundamentally corrupt. It’s a tragedy about… More
On J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
What Salinger gave to us were memorable meeting points between innocence and the world’s soiling stains. There was so much authenticity in his stance and sympathy that his artificialities… More
Censorship and Writing for Young Adults
I write for children and teenagers—this is my perspective on censorship from within the world of kids’ books. More
My Banned Books
Before the decade ended, I was asked to return a payment of $50.00 to an educational publisher. My poem about dinosaurs had to be removed from a language arts… More
PEN Remembers Vietnamese Poet Nguyen Chi Thien
PEN remembers poet Nguyen Chi Thien, who spent nearly three decades in prison in Vietnam and died on October 2, 2012. More