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Little Hungary

Little Jack lived in Little Hungary in a little Hungarian tenement house. Those who lived in Little Hungary were called little Hungarians even though Little Jack was actually quite… More

PEN Appeal: Omidreza Mirsayafi

April 9, 2009 His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Head… More

Night Zoo

My heart began racing the moment I reached the entrance. We hadn’t seen each other for a week, and after so long your absence was almost unbearable. Occasionally we… More

Yoshihiro Tatsumi: Hell

"Hell," a graphic story by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, appears in PEN America 10: Fear Itself. To read the rest of this story, pick up a copy of PEN America 10: Fear… More

On Fear

When FDR said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he also said, “Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.” I… More

Being Saïd

On a stage in New York, a Director, an Actor, and an Actress are struggling to finish a play written by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh.Director: (Addressing the audience.) Ladies and gentlemen,… More

Scorched Maps

Scorched MapsI took a trip to Ukraine. It was June.I waded in the fields, all full of dustand pollen in the air. I searched, but thoseI loved had disappeared… More

The Flood Notebooks

This is another summer of the VanishingA summer of the country turning from more loss. Switch off the TV, power down the computer, stop the conversation.Everyone is tired of… More

Book Groups Launch New Effort to Amend Patriot Act

Organizations representing booksellers, librarians, publishers, and writers today launched the latest phase in their five-year campaign to restore the reader privacy safeguards that were stripped away by the USA… More