Czeslaw Milosz and the Conscience of Literature

<p>April 22, 2005 | Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College | New York City<br />

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At the end of a week much engaged with the subject of the writer&rsquo;s struggle to assert humane values in a &ldquo;Ruined World,&rdquo; the first PEN World Voices appropriately concludes with a tribute to the great Polish Nobel laureate who passed away in 2004 at the age of 93. Friends, former colleagues, and fellow artists come together to celebrate a poet who spoke out many times against authoritarianism, yet was diffident in his claims for the authority of letters.<br />

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With Bei Dao, Robert Faggen, Durs Gr&uuml;nbein, Robert Hass, Edward Hirsch, Eva Hoffman, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Azar Nafisi, Tomas Venclova, and Adam Zagajewski; moderated by Lawrence Weschler.<br />

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 PHOTO GALLERY<br />

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 LISTEN TO SEGMENTS<br />

&bull; Lawrence Weschler and Tomas Venclova read &quot;Preparation&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (8:42)<br />

&bull; Adam Zagajewski reads from The Second Space by Czeslaw Milosz (8:45)<br />

&bull; Eva Hoffman reads &quot;A Poor Christian Looks at the Ghetto&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz&nbsp; (8:24)<br />

&bull; Durs Gr&uuml;nbein reads &quot;Preparation&quot; and &quot;Song on Porcelain&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (3:54)<br />

&bull; Robert Hass reads poems by Czeslaw Milosz (4:56)<br />

&bull; Bei Dao Reads &quot;Preparation&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz and &quot;Untitled&quot; by Bei Dao&nbsp; (3:42)<br />

&bull; Breyten Breytenbach reads &quot;Preparation&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (2:52)<br />

&bull; Robert Faggen reads &quot;To Mrs. Professor in Defense of My Cat’s Honor and Not Only&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (11:14)<br />

&bull; Edward Hirsch reads &quot;Gift&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (7:18)<br />

&bull; Azar Nafisi reads &quot;An Honest Description of Myself&nbsp;&hellip;&quot; by Czeslaw Milosz (12:06)<br />

&bull; Closing remarks from Lawrence Weschler and Salman Rushdie (5:02)</p>