Crossing Over: The 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Celebration

December 2, 2009 | Housing Works Bookstore Café | NYC

With Uwem Akpan, Juan Felipe Herrera, Lily Hoang, and Brendan Curry; hosted by Jane Ciabattari of the National Book Critics Circle

Jane Ciabattari, the President of the National Book Critics Circle, hosts an evening of readings and conversation celebrating the winners of the 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Awards. Recent Oprah Book Club pick Uwem Akpan (Say You’re One of Them; Little, Brown and Company), Juan Felipe Herrera (Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems; University of Arizona Press), and Lily Hoang (Changing; Fairy Tale Review Press) read from their winning works. W.W. Norton editor Brendan Curry joins them for a panel discussion moderated by Jane Ciabattari about the pathway to critical and commercial success and how the winning titles borrow from multiple genres to create works that are vital and engaging.
 

AUDIO & VIDEO
• Entire event (1:29:16)

• Uwem Akpan reads from Say You’re One of Them (7:13)

• Juan Felipe Herrera reads from Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (7:23)

• Lily Hoang reads from Changing (8:41)

• Discussion and Q&A (58:39)   PHOTO GALLERY
• View the photo gallery on Flickr

EXCERPTS
• Read excerpts of the winners’ work from PEN’s Online Feature