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How I Became My Father
“Where are you going?” my father asked, stepping out of his black GTO as I approached the Mission, a halfway house my mother forced me into after bailing me… More
Case Histories: Tahar Djaout
Defending writers and advocating for free expression both at home and abroad has been a linchpin of PEN American Center since its founding in 1922. PEN American Center members… More
Poetry Roundup: The Road is Before Us!
Welcome to the Walt days of summer. Today we praise our expansive poetic father, Walt Whitman, whose birthday we just celebrated! More
Executive Director Steven L. Isenberg to Leave PEN
New York City, May 30, 2012—Steven L. Isenberg, who has served as Executive Director of PEN American Center since 2009, announced today in a letter to PEN’s President and… More
On Memorial Day Weekend, America Reckons with Torture
[caption id="attachment_12717" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sketch of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin"][/caption] On this weekend's Moyers & Company (check local listings), PEN American Center's Larry Siems, author of… More
The Russians are Writing! The Russians are Coming!
Guest post by PEN Translation Committee member Ronald MeyerBook Expo America (BEA) kicks off on June 4th at the Javits Center, and Russia is both this year’s guest of… More
Poetry Roundup: Banker’s Dozen
For those of you who haven’t already heard, the poet Joshua Clover and 11 University of California Davis students are being “threatened with 11 years each in jail and… More
Pussy Riot’s Punk Moleben – Virgin Mary Put Putin Away
Today, May 24, three members of the Russian Punk band, Pussy Riot, will have been detained for over 11 weeks, and will not be freed for at least another… More
Dan Magers: Two Poems
Welling up in my hands are emotions, / and I awakened in her wake, / and I almost saw heaven then. More
On Memorial Day Weekend, America Reckons with Torture
On this weekend’s Moyers & Company (check local listings), PEN American Center’s Larry Siems, author of The Torture Report, and director Doug Liman, whose credits include The Bourne Identity,… More