The Torturer General
It seems surreal: The president's nominee for the highest legal position in the land is a proponent of torture. In his notorious Jan. 25, 2002, memorandum to Bush, Alberto… More
We Are All Torturers Now
At least since Watergate, Americans have come to take for granted a certain story line of scandal, in which revelation is followed by investigation, adjudication and expiation. Together, Congress… More
Resolution on the United States of America
The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at its 69th Congress in Mexico City, Mexico, 22–28 November 2003, Alarmed by actions by the U.S. government and U.S. military… More
November 24, 2004 | A Very Haitian Story
Miami—On Sunday, Oct. 24, United Nations troops and Haitian police forces launched a military operation in Bel-Air, one of the poorest and most volatile neighborhoods in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.… More
Reading Is a Prime Defense Against Assault on Our Rights
As a child, one of my favorite novels was Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Its subject is book burning — 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which books catch… More
We’re in the Process of Losing Our Country
Was the Wednesday August 4 PEN Club meeting, during which several writers read texts, a demonstration against George Bush or a position-taking in favor of John Kerry?The PEN Club… More
Terrorism, Intellectual Freedom, and the Patriot Act
AMY GOODMAN: Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children, published in 1981, won the Booker Prize and brought him international fame. But it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, that… More
Homophobia’s Reach
American democracy provides inspiration by example (rather than by military occupation) to people all over the world who are seeking justice and freedom. And it is important to note… More
Torturers and Terrorists
So now we think we know who took some of the photographs at Abu Ghraib. The works attributed to Specialist Jeremy Sivits are fated to remain among the indelible… More
Campaign for Reader Privacy Press Conference
I am here today on behalf of the 2,700 writers who are members of PEN American Center, and many thousands more professional, semi-professional, vocational, apprentice, and recreational writers who… More
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