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Lifetimes Out of Moments

A small boat crowded to the gunnels with journalists met the docking of Gertrude Stein’s steamship in New York. Her name ran like an illuminated rabbit around Times Square.… More

Laughter in the Dark

We went on to talk about other things, and then, out of the blue, ten or fifteen minutes later, apropos of nothing, he leaned forward across the table and… More

Blood Feather

As Marcia does the dishes, she hears her daughter call from upstairs. “Mom, Mo-o-o-m . . . ” She races up but Ruthie isn’t in her room or even… More

WiPC Case List: January to June 2004

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN was set up in 1960 as a result of mounting concern about attempts to silence critical voices around the world… More

The Language Barrier

About a year after my father was transferred from the American Consulate in Montreal to the Consulate in Salonika, Greece, my brothers and I began to speak to our… More

November & Persephone

A golden shredding of light, slow unfolding, the airy geometry of trees revealed in a day by day transfiguration of tough vegetable matter into clearer and clearer frames of radiance, until you scarcely know… More

Multiple Rebirths

This talk was presented, in slightly different form, at a PEN Tribute to Gabriel García Márquez. It is often remarked that Gabriel García Márquez’s writings are read by people… More