PEN 2013: Critical Cold Wars
In this critical Cold War, the stakes are very, very high. A society that inhibits the free exchange of a plurality of opinions is a society doomed. More
Arnaud Nourry Speaks at the 2011 PEN Literary Gala
It is for me a great honor and a pleasure to be with you tonight, at this very special time for writers, publishers and citizens around the world.Every part… More
Soap and Ambergris
I live in a small, single-story house in Al-Atayef Quarter. My husband didn’t leave me anything, apart from a mud house that shakes when the thunder crashes and the… More
Africa and the World: Writers at Home and Away
ACHMAT DANGOR: History. We all have our stories.Forty years ago, at the eager age of sixteen, I had to appear before a race-classification board in Pretoria, South Africa, because… More
Africa and the World: Writers at Home and Away
BREYTEN BREYTENBACH: If one mentions the word “Africa” in a global context, it tends to evoke many responses and perhaps even some obsessions. People tend to project on the… More
A History of Trauma
KHALED MATTAWA: What’s ringing in my ear now is the adverb “originally,” and I want to discuss with Hanan and Fadhil the issue of origins. My question for them… More