Africa and the World
ZAKES MDA: I will read a passage here from The Whale Caller, which is a novel set in South Africa in a small town called Hermanus. Hermanus is well… More
Quixote at 400
You may imagine the boss as the President, the General Secretary, the Chief of Army, the boss of your marriage or of your building, whatever you think. You immediately… More
Quixote at 400
In any case, since the book is supposed to be real, it follows that the story has to be written by an eyewitness to the events that take place… More
Quixote at 400
Actually, Don Quixote was published in the same year as the story of that other mad old man, King Lear, so it was a great year for mad old… More
The Way We Love Now: Natsuo Kirino
Eroticism and its various definitions exist in paradox. It’s the nature of human beings to be held captive by eroticism. Even while longing to be set free, we still… More
Africa and the World
I’ve been asked very loosely to think about the relationship of African writers and Africa at large to American writing. An enormous topic, of course, but I’ll offer a… More
The Way We Love Now: Peter Stamm
I wanted to talk about love in Switzerland, but the country is so small, there’s really not much to say. Only one detail: In Swiss-German “love” is not a… More
The Way We Love Now: Wayne Koestenbaum
This panel’s title pays oblique homage to the late Susan Sontag, whose 1986 short story “The Way We Live Now” itself honored Anthony Trollope’s 1875 novel, The Way We… More
Natsuo Kirino: International Noir
"International Noir: Breaking Out of Crime Time" appears in PEN America 7: World Voices. This talk was presented, in slightly different form, at the 2005 PEN World Voices Festival of… More
Francois Bizot: Confronting the Worst: Writing and Catastrophe
In 1971, I was caught by a revolutionary communist in Cambodia. I was chained and condemned to death and before that, interrogated by a young man who asked me… More
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