Blog
Filter By:
Advocacy • Analysis • Blog • Commentary • Drama • Essay • Event • Feature • Fiction • Graphic Narrative • Interview • Memoir • News • Obituary • Open Letter • Poetry • Press Release • Profile
Browse By Series:
PEN Poetry Series • Prison Writing • The PEN Ten Interviews • Illustrated PEN • Pen Pals • The PEN World
Browse By Email Subscription:
PEN America News • Educational Censorship News • Works of Justice
Super-Mongrels of Indeterminate Breed
Our Freedom to Write Fellow on Banned Books Week and the magic, terror, and racism of Jack London's famous novella The Call of the Wild. More
The Banning of Sandpiper
I can write a letter or two and send off copies of the book to interested parties, but, as the arguments rage, I’m here in my office working on… More
Spotlight on the 2013 PEN Literary Award Winners
The winners of the 2013 PEN Literary Awards were announced last month, bringing greater recognition to a wide range of worthy books and authors. Since the announcement, we've encountered… More
Controversial South African Secrecy Bill Sent Back to Parliament
President Jacob Zuma's decision not to sign the Protection of State Information Bill is positive news for free expression in South Africa. More
Tristano Dies
You know, all told, life’s more what you don’t remember than what you do…Frau popped her head in, not one ripple now, she told me, to show you swam… More
On Translating Antonio Tabbuchi
The book is a pastiche of literary, philosophical, and pop-culture references, all made by a dying man who is at times lucid, at times hallucinating. It’s a thrilling book… More
Three Poems by Mary Hickman
In the photos, he’s sixteen. His horse stands with loose reins by an alpine lake. The water looks less like water than sky, and even in the heat of… More
On Translating Li Shangyin
To read Li Shangyin’s poetry is to be beautifully disoriented. It is to encounter a unique lyricism comprised of layer upon layer of mythological, historical, and symbolist imagery all… More
Five Poems from Derangements of My Contemporaries
For no reason: bitter envy, lingering resentment towards others. / Drunkenly calling on ghosts, spirits. / Grieving sons reciting song lyrics. / Dressing in deep mourning at a cock… More
Beauty is a Wound
[U]pon her departure, the nineteen other girls followed her into her room, gathered on top of her bed, and resumed their conversation about how to amputate a Japanese soldier’s… More