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Time of Sky
1.Blood always bloodAs blue is blueIncessant explosion of a thirst-ripened orange2.A kiss on the fountain that grows pigeon-like anywhere upon the trembling mirror that exposes itself3.The innocent windowFlung inwardsAnd… More
Revisiting the Racial Mountain
In “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” Langston Hughes’s famous essay of 1926, Hughes describes his disappointment with a statement made by “one of the most promising of the… More
PEN American Center Reacts to Court’s Rejection of Liu Xiaobo’s Appeal
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s summary rejection of Liu Xiaobo’s appeal. The brief, inadequate hearing and quick decision only furthered the impression that the decisions of the… More
Free Expression Organizations to Iran: Release Jailed Journalists, Writers
A coalition of leading international journalists, writers, and publishers organizations today launched a campaign to press the government of Iran to release their colleagues imprisoned in the wake of… More
Writing by Twilight: Steven Corbin’s Queer Triptych
Like that of all authors who died AIDS-related deaths, with each passing year Steven Corbin’s work takes on a significance beyond its worth as good or not so good… More
Nothing Weighs Anything There
The way I got into this work was through my love of the water. I’ve always known it was where I belonged. Given that I was born and raised… More
Looking for Black Literature?
I first understood what people meant when they spoke of intangible white privilege when I realized that I read differently than other people. Literature had often asked me to… More
PEN Appeal: Yoani Sánchez, Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo, and Claudia Cadelo
November 30, 2009 Raúl Castro Ruz Presidente c/o Cuban Interests Section 2639 16th St, NW Washington, DC 20009 Fax: (202) 797-0606 General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra Ministro del Interior y Prisiones c/o Cuban Interests Section 2639 16th St, NW Washington,… More
Internet Writers Sentenced
International PEN protests the 15- and five-year prison sentences handed down to Tibetan Internet writers Kunchok Tsephel and Kunga Tseyang in mid-November 2009. More
365 Black: Celebrating African-America History and Culture All Year Long
As an African-American author and publisher of children’s books I am delighted when the month of February arrives. February is a short and usually cold month, but in publishing… More
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