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Syria: Thirteen Scenes From Hell
Not a day goes by without me hearing the same old refrain from my women friends: “Shouldn’t the opposition council represent the revolution? Where are the women? Don’t we… More
So Here We Are
They were handcuffed in pairs, across the wire, and only then allowed to stand up. The first was a Russian, a tall, lean lad in a blue vest and… More
From the Cycle of Poems “Cognitive capitalism”
I descended into the subway, I saw the homeless / with plastic bags on their heads, / with garbage gags in their mouths, like mummies / in mausolea of… More
Five Poems by Liu Xia
I’m a philosopher who thinks / with my body, I’m biological / theater, non-fiction, the body / of spirit whose language is / poetry. I am prosody. More
#NSFW: Poetry and Porn
"This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content." Is poetry reserved for a better sort of people? More
Editor Raif Badawi Faces “Apostasy” Charges
PEN is deeply concerned by a judge’s recommendation, made on December 25, 2013, to refer the editor Raif Badawi to the General Court on charges of apostasy. If convicted,… More
Two Poets Detained; Fears for Safety
PEN protests the arrest of poets and lyricists Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi, who have been held in Section 2A of Tehran’s Evin prison since December 7, 2013, apparently… More
An Odd Bird
Amal didn’t see when they took her mother away. She closed herself in her mother’s bedroom and smelled the lilac on her mother’s pillow until the sounds of the… More
Sochi Winter Olympics Campaign: Out in the Cold
In the weeks leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games (February 7-23), PEN will be protesting the draconian restrictions placed on free expression in Russia since President Vladimir… More
Amiri Baraka: 1934-2014
Baraka was famous as one of the major forces in the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, which sought to duplicate in fiction, poetry, drama, and other… More
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