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On Fifth Anniversary of Cuba’s Black Spring, 28 Writers Still Imprisoned
Five years after Cuba jailed 75 prominent dissidents in what has been called that country’s “Black Spring,” PEN American Center today appealed for the release of 28 imprisoned writers,… More
Trial Reinforces Fears Hu Jia Is Being Silenced for His Writings
PEN American Center today called reports of the trial of prominent activist and writer Hu Jia “extremely troubling and discouraging,” saying the proceedings apparently did nothing but underscore the… More
PEN American Center Announces the 2008 Translation Fund Grant Recipients
The PEN Translation Fund, now celebrating its fifth year of existence, is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s competition. Out of a stellar field of 123 applicants,… More
PEN to China: Let Free Press Tell True Story in Tibet
Writers from Canada, the United States, and China joined today in denouncing “suffocating restrictions” on the press and on the flow of information from Tibet, where a week of… More
Charges Against Turkmen Writer Dropped
After having spent the large majority of the past two years in exile, novelist, historian, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent and 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award winner… More
International Women’s Day: Women Writing Under Surveillance in China
Five months exactly before the opening of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, International PEN is marking International Women’s Day on March 8 by celebrating the work of three… More
Interview: Clifford Barnes
QUESTION: What was the spark that made you begin writing in prison? When did it occur?CLIFFORD BARNES:I didn’t begin writing in prison. I wrote as a youngster, not just… More
Interview: Zachary Redfearne
QUESTION: What was the spark that made you begin writing in prison? When did it occur?ZACHARY REDFEARNE: A writing workshop by Naropa University was a big motivational booster.Q: Can… More
How She Penetrates
According to family lore, there was a great bonfire in which all of Jane’s possessions perished. Her journals, her clothes, her scrapbooks, her books, her typewriter, her school papers,… More
The Messiness of Now: A Conversation
Amitava Kumar: There was a man in the nineteenth century who anticipated everything that Ilija was going to do and write, and lived his life accordingly: Richard Francis Burton.… More
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