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Stars are shredding machines and From my mother’s sleep
I talk to who I want. Guten Tag Herr Gutenberg. The invention of movable type was inspired by his close observation of clouds, how when you look away they rearrange themselves in… 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
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
Seven Small Apocalypses
Night and DayI drive by a motel when I need anything from the other side of town. Town’s built like an hourglass, and there’s a big lit sun shining… More
Rosie’s Bridegroom
The wedding guests look upon the cracked, pink lips of Rosie’s bridegroom. They look at Rosie’s own lips, which owe their reddish pinkness to artifice, they think, and not… More
Revolution et literature
I spotted Professor Youssef sitting at his usual table. That lazy, pretentious, Algerian pseudo-French intellectual always dresses up in gabardine suits with the same thin tie that had its… More
Journalist and Family Threatened; Fears for Safety
International PEN protests the threats issued against El Diario de los Altos editor Miguel Ángel Casillas in Jalisco State in March 2009. More
PEN Applauds House Passage of Free Flow of Information Act
The House of Representatives yesterday passed the 2009 Free Flow of Information Act by voice vote, taking a firm step towards federally protecting journalists who refuse to reveal their… More
Health Concerns for Jailed Writers
International PEN continues to be alarmed by the large number of detained writers in China suffering from serious illnesses and lack of appropriate medical care. More
Beijing Writer, PEN VP Jiang Qisheng Detained for Charter 08
Independent Chinese PEN Center Vice President Dr. Jiang Qisheng was detained and interrogated by police in Beijing today in what PEN American Center and the Independent Chinese PEN Center… More