On Translating Hester Knibbe
There were openly false statements, lies that gave way to truths. There was often a little something indigestible in the poems, something to puzzle over, and this was what… More
On Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs del Mal
The judges argued that these pieces would “necessarily lead to the excitement of the senses by a crude realism offensive to public decency.” In other words, they were too… More
My Father’s Violin
...lying in the back of another old Chevy—a ‘50 model—I watched passing headlights pinwheel over the torn headliner, and thought of my father home in Pennsylvania, dreaming unimaginable dreams… More
Bleak Housing & Black Americans
The United States seems not merely to tolerate but actually to revel in inflicting barbaric human degradation upon prisoners—not just for months or years, but for decades and lifetimes... More
Translating Pussy Riot
Susan Bernofsky reports on how the closing statements by members of Russian punk band Pussy riot made it into English. More
Case Histories: Allen Ginsberg
"My books piled up before me for my use / waiting in space where I placed them, they haven't disappeared, time's left its remnants and qualities for me to… More
On Translating Andrea Tompa
Andrea Tompa's generation had no sultan to fear in distant Constantinople and his pashas, but they did have a Moscow-driven communist dictator and his secret police. No hostile armies… More
PEN Visits South Africa
I just returned from a fabulous trip to South Africa, where I traveled on behalf of PEN American Center with the poet Cathy Park Hong as part of our… More
PEN Translation Fund Donor’s Identity Revealed
Translator Michael Henry Heim, who passed away on Sunday, was revealed yesterday to be the donor who began and continues to support the PEN Translation Fund. More
Final Words: Book Banning Is Not Dead
In April of 2011, a visit with a close friend sparked the same question that was asked each time we were together: What are you working on now? I… More
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