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PEN Condemns Execution of Poet in Iran
On Friday, February 7, PEN learned that poet Hashem Sha'bani had been executed in Iran. The following post, which provides background on the poet’s life and case, was adapted… More
The Day We Fight Back Against Mass Surveillance
PEN joins an international day of action to fight mass government surveillance. Find out how you can make a difference. More
Russia in Between Security and Democracy
The book market is not noticeably being censored. What is evident, however, is that innovative and controversial literature is being plucked out of the canon (thereby causing it to… More
Alexandria Irrealis
The Alexandria that Constantine Cavafy knew no longer exists. Nor does the Alexandria that E. M. Forster got to know during the First World War, nor the Alexandria that… More
A Conversation with Eisa Davis & Eisa Ulen.
"Born of the bloodfire of struggle for the people. I honor my child with your daughter’s name. May they both be strong forces of love and revolution."These are the… More
#PutinsLibrary: A Photo Mash-Up Contest
What better way to call attention to the absurdity of Russia’s troika of anti-free expression laws enacted since Putin took office—again—than a contest to celebrate the wealth of iconic… More
Day of Rage
we checked it all out, twice we passed / the policeman in his sentry-box… / when we dispersed in the half gloom of side-streets / I noted this image:… More
Rendering the Poet’s Vision in “The God Abandons Antony”
The curious fact is that a crucial line in one of his most important and popular poems, “Απολείπειν ο θεός Αντώνιον,” usually rendered as “The God Abandons Anthony,” has… More
The Human Face of the Free Expression Crackdown in China
Close your eyes, and imagine you were a writer, a publisher, a PEN supporter living in China. What do you see? More
The Blood of Love
If memory is all that can be kept of the past, how might it be kept alive? And if there is no life we can see beyond this one,… More