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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
Welcome Home, Shi Tao
When I started at PEN nearly six years ago, Shi Tao was one of my first priority cases. Now, he's finally free. More
On Translating Eka Kurniawan
Beauty is a Wound is pointed about the havoc appetite has wreaked upon a place and people of idyllic beauty...Kurniawan implicates his readers, who can’t help but take pleasure… More