A Prayer for Workers
Bless the woman, man, & child / who honor Earth by opening shine / in the soil—the splayed hour More
Strange Wind of Starlessness
I’m not trying to reach some divine / ear. Imagine. Where once / was mercy trash now crunches / like leaves under stars / if only there were still… More
Prayer Before Dying
Let the oceans be still or roar, as they always have. Please let the world go on as it always has, so that my children will know that only… More
PEN World Voices Festival Returns With Eye on Africa
The PEN World Voices Festival has announced the schedule for its 11th annual incarnation, from May 4 to 10.This year the festival — conceived after Sept. 11, 2001, to… More
All That’s Left to You: Palestinian Writers in Conversation
For the first time, PEN brings together a panel of leading Palestinian writers to talk about their place in the global literary community. From Palestine and from the diaspora,… More
Fadwa Touqan Will Do the Tango No More
"If your love has died / Do not grieve / Laugh at love / And deceive with laughter / An unyielding sorrow." To be honest, we had to control… More
What is PEN World Voices good for?
My point is that PEN World Voices seems to produce a shadow set of reactions—and encounters, debates, exchanges, quarrels, and probably a couple of friendships in there—that feel more… More
The Closing Argument at Guantanamo
Text of a dramatic reading presented at the opening night of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, April 29, 2013. More
Sotomayor speaks at NYC literature festival
NEW YORK (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is taking on the topic of freedom of expression.She gave a talk on the subject Sunday evening on the closing… More
PEN 2013: Not Writing from Exile
Shahrnush Parsipur’s writing career began in 1974 with the publication of her first novel, The Dog and the Long Winter. She's been in trouble with Iranian authorities ever since. More
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