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National Coalition Against Censorship Announces Winners of Cameron Post Essay Contest
The contest, co-sponsored by PEN and other free expression groups, invited high school students in Delaware to write a 250-500 word essay saying what they felt school board members… More
In Search of Salvation
He stood about six feet but weighed, at most, 110 pounds. His face was so emaciated that you could see nearly every bone. The few remaining teeth he had… More
140 Characters Make You A Terrorist
Saudi Arabia remains one of few countries untouched by the wave of democratic uproar that swept through the Middle East. The reason? According to one Saudi journalist, who chooses… More
The Literary Gamut: Sci-fi, Surveillance, Michael J. Fox, and Parties
Since last week's sold-out launch of our 2014 Public Programming, it's been go, go, go for the intrepid PEN community. All leading up to a celebration of the Ninth… More
The Prince of Finesse: Hugging the Shore
If it please the court, I ask that it be stricken from the record that I ever mocked/denigrated John Updike for his devotion to Doris Day, which I have… More
Two Poems by Wendy Xu
Unrested we said to others to leave / us pleased, not far along our track, still much // we want, half the slower good death / of cities too… More
PEN South Africa Alarmed at Arrest of Botswana Editor
The folllowing was released by PEN South Africa, a close partner of PEN American Center, on Tuesday, September 16. PRESS RELEASECAPE TOWN—PEN South Africa expressed alarm at the arrest of… More
Three Poems from Diaries of Exile
Then the moon came in / and hung motionless over the plate. / Panousis’s arm on the blanket / was a severed plane tree. More
Tohti Trial a ‘Farce,’ Says PEN American Center
Ilham Tohti, a scholar and writer who should have been a welcome ally in China’s efforts to build a harmonious society, instead faces more than a decade in… More
The PEN Ten with Sean Wilsey
Suddenly seeing myself as a writer-of-facts changed the way I looked at reality—so it was sort of a double-edged occasion. Guaranteed impediment to having a good time: knowing you'll… More