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Antonio Muñoz Molina on Fortunata and Jacinta
Reader, reluctant reader, unknown reader, unlikely reader: I am aware there is little chance that you will crack open this book, let alone read this message, and so I… More
John Ralston Saul’s Opening Remarks at 77th PEN International Congress
The 77th PEN International Congress takes place this week in Belgrade, Serbia. Below are the opening remarks from PEN International President, John Ralston Saul. More
Reality Far More Absurd: A Conversation with Zhou Qing
I’m a writer. I can’t build useful machines, nor can I farm crops. Given that I can write, I need to spill ink towards something significant, meaningful. More
Poem for His Ex-Girlfriend
Last I heard you worked at a bakery. / Last I read your poems were lower case / with capital content. I used to like / to read them… More
Fast Talkers
I remember the first time when, sitting on a bus in Münster, Germany as a 19-year-old exchange student, I found myself actually eavesdropping, picking up snatches of other people’s… More
Zhou Qing: Punished to Save Them
If satisfying our basic daily needs for food and drink becomes a highly dangerous activity, what hope is left for our society? More
Zhou Qing: Punished to Save Them
Zhou Qing is a writer and board member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center who has written several groundbreaking books of investigative nonfiction. Imprisoned for almost three years after taking… More
PEN Remembers Book Editor and PEN Member Jeannette Hopkins
PEN is saddened by the loss of influential book editor, social justice advocate, and PEN member Jeannette Hopkins, who died August 4 in New York from complications of a… More
Flee, Sit in Prison, or Shut Up: An Interview with Liao Yiwu
Amid the recent crackdown on dissidents by the Chinese government, the case of Liao Yiwu, the well-known poet and chronicler of contemporary China, is particularly interesting. More
Two Women Journalists Found Strangled in Mexico City
PEN International protests the murder of Contralinea founder Ana María Marcela Yarce Viveros who, along with freelance journalist Rocio González Trápaga, was found dead in Mexico City on September… More