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V1agra C1alis

1I didn’t get it at first. I thought she was kidding. Viagra, Cialis, your woman will want to keep going all night. I won’t say I didn’t blush. But… More

Luminescences of Words

When I was invited, a year and a half ago, to become president of the PEN American Center, I believe it was hoped I would prove enough of a… More

A Reservoir of Freedom

We have come to the end of one of the most illustrious, unruly, and eventful congresses in the history of International PEN. Have so many brilliant writers ever gathered… More

Risk

The Mysterious HouseWhen he said the house was “mysterious,” Papá set my imagination racing. I had imagined a dark, dank two-story English manor house, walls shrouded in thick ivy,… More

On Writing

A young student once wrote to the French novelist André Gide to ask him whether he should try to become a writer. “Only if you have to,” answered Gide,… More

British Author Alan Shadrake Loses Appeal

PEN International renews its call for the charges against British author Alan Shadrake to be dropped after his six-week prison sentence for contempt was upheld by the Court of… More