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PEN Honorary Member Nguyen Vu Binh Released in Vietnam
PEN American Center welcomes the early release on June 9, 2007 of Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Vu Binh. More
PEN Praises Senate Bill on Iraqi Refugees
PEN American Center today applauded the introduction of legislation to accelerate and expand programs to resettle threatened Iraqi translators, journalists, and other vulnerable refugees in the United States, calling… More
The View From Tehran
Most Iranians, I believe, share a broad outlook on American foreign policy: they think that Iran is valued only for its vast energy resources and its role in regional… More
San Quentin, July 4th, 1975
I stabbed with my right fist, coming up to the imaginary point of my opponent’s chin. The “clack” of the cell doors being unlocked came closer. I bobbed, ducking… More
A Requiem for Freddy
His liver destroyed by Hepatitis C, Robert Hagenson didn’t receive a transplant, but a type of early parole—in a body bag. His sudden deterioration and death hit many of… More
The Novelist and the Curious Cabbie
I was standing on the curb, uptown, my hand raised for a cab. It was evening, and the sky was clear and the air cool. I had plenty of… More
Acceptance Speech by Philip Roth for the Saul Bellow Award
The backbone of 20th-century American literature has been provided by two novelists—William Faulkner and Saul Bellow. Together they are the Melville, Hawthorne, and Mark Twain of the 20th century.… More
PEN Condemns New Arrests in Iran
PEN American Center has expressed alarm over the arrests of two prominent international scholars in Tehran. More
Life and Times of Melvin Billy Joe Vogt
I was born to Ruth and Melvin Vogt on the cold 31 ½ degrees morning of December 18th, 1941. At 12:44:07 a.m. in Baltimore City Hospital, Baltimore City, Maryland.… More
Summer Snow
*The following is a true account. Everything actually took place at the end of summer of 1982.On July 8, 1982, I turned fourteen years old. It was the middle… More
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