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In Memory of Cell Number One
PEN Haiti president Jean-Euphèle Milcé reflects on the death of Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. More
PEN Member Arrested for Supporting Hong Kong Protests
As pro-democracy protests enter their third week in Hong Kong, Beijing’s efforts to suppress information on and support for the occupy movement have extended to PEN’s ranks as Independent… More
Rights Advocates in Iran Imprisoned in Clampdown on Social Media
Journalist and blogger Marzieh Rasouli has been imprisoned for two years for collaborating with the BBC. Meanwhile, Ghoncheh Ghavami has been detained without a lawyer for pressing for the… More
Six Poems by Amjad Nasser
I want to go into a coma / Anesthetic / Into the fifth heaven of grass / Where God’s forking foot is washed by the virgins of paradise More
Prominent Jordanian-British Poet Turned Away from New York-Bound Flight
The absence of any grounds for his exclusion raises the troubling possibility that Nasser is being punished and silence on the basis of his opinions and writings. More
Jordanian Poet Denied Entry to U.S.
On September 27, 2014, Jordanian-British Poet Amjad Nasser was denied permission to board a plane bound for New York, where he was to inaugurate the new Gallatin Global Writers… More
Sacred or Profane? On Bless Me, Ultima
And yet, I was only half Italian. I was only half Catholic. I was only half open to these ideas. I was only half. What could make me whole?… More
The Facebook Revolution
The revolution exposed the deep suffering of Egypt’s people. In a sense, the revolution didn’t bring chaos to the country, but an explosion of the people’s rage towards the… More
PEN Presses Turkey to Stop ‘Judicial Harrassment’ of Pınar Selek
The decision of an Istanbul court to proceed with the trial of Turkish sociologist and feminist Pınar Selek 16 years after the start of her legal ordeal is a… More
Sherman Alexie on Banned Books, Civil Liberties, and Masturbation
The bestselling author on surveillance, free expression, and--yes--masturbation in young adult literature. More