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On Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
Say that Lolita is hilarious and excruciating and sad—no novel ever had a sadder last line—but not boring, surely. We throb with the miserable Humbert as he creeps across… More
Excerpts from Marcelo Cohen’s The End of the Same
There are men on the beach. They are prisoners. Right now they are establishing a routine in order to accommodate various states of rage, depression, and reverie. Most of… More
Announcing the 2012 PEN Translation Fund Grant Recipients
The PEN Translation Fund, now celebrating its ninth year, is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s competition. From a field of 130 applicants, the Fund’s Advisory Board… More
On translating Marcelo Cohen
Through translation, inventive turns of phrase and expanded linguistic boundaries imbed themselves in our cultural consciousness like the very stories they tell, and it is from these mutations that… More
Hillary Gulley on translating Marcelo Cohen
Through translation, inventive turns of phrase and expanded linguistic boundaries imbed themselves in our cultural consciousness like the very stories they tell, and it is from these mutations that… More
On James Joyce’s Ulysses
Until I graduated from college—and had to find a job, get my heart broken, bear the burden of being a twenty-something during recession, watch friends go to rehab, watch… More
On Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War
The Chocolate War (along with its sequel) has been consistently challenged and criticized by schools, libraries, and parents for its language, sexual content, violence, and bleak message. At the… More
On John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
The story is a tragedy predicated on the idea that working one’s fingers to the bone for little pay and no security is fundamentally corrupt. It’s a tragedy about… More
On J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
What Salinger gave to us were memorable meeting points between innocence and the world’s soiling stains. There was so much authenticity in his stance and sympathy that his artificialities… More
PEN, CPJ, and Internet Sans Frontières Issue Damning UN Report on Cameroon
Free expression is under threat in Cameroon, according to a report submitted this week to the UN Human Rights Council by PEN International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Internet… More