Zeyar Lynn Reads Two Poems
I have not written my history ... They have written my history, then they have airbrushed me from history. More
Zadie Smith: Dead White Authors and Political Identity
I never felt the need to defend the books I liked. Whatever is the best writing, as far as I can tell or feel, that’s what I’m interested in. More
Galway Kinnell: Nuclear Threat and Poetry
Poets, just like everybody else, have suppressed thoughts about this subject. And no wonder, because it is a subject that, the more you think about, the more hopeless you… More
Blanche Cook on Freedom of Information
"It’s really a question of censorship and political rights on every single level." More
Amos Oz Reading at the 48th International PEN Congress
"Having to read it to you in English translation feels rather like making love through a blanket." More
The Role of the Writer: Bárbara Jacobs
“If a writer is a good writer, he uncovers and records the loose ends, and if the state wants him to keep his trap shut, he does not conform… More
Katherine Dunn Reads from Geek Love
Katherine Dunn reads an excerpt from her novel, Geek Love, at the 1989 PEN America event "Where Rolls the Mighty Oregon: Pacific NW Writers." More
PEN Congress: Saul Bellow, 1966
An isolated recording of Saul Bellow speaking at the 1966 PEN International Congress addressing a number of topics and tropes. More
Gary Indiana: A Letter from William S. Burroughs
"Brainwashing, thought control, etc. is the vilest form of crime against the person of another." More
Susan Sontag and Chinua Achebe In Conversation
"Art is supposed to give us a second handle on reality, so that when real life becomes too rough, we can use this." More