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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
Autobiography of a Corpse
There wasn’t a minute to lose. All about them people were beginning to whisper. The whispers became murmurs, the murmurs a hubbub, the hubbub an outcry, and the outcry… More
Arrest of Tie Liu Proves ‘Pen is Mightier Than the Sword’
The arrest and detention Sunday of Chinese writer and publisher Tie Liu is an outrageous example of Beijing’s 65-year campaign against free expression, prioritizing the image of the Party… More