MEMBER BLOG TAG: jose dalisay
| Friday, May 1, 2009 11:39AM | | | | Spirit of '89 | Tags: liuu xiabao, sergio ramirez, jose dalisay, human rights, ann beeson, eszter barbaczy
| | | The number of students massacred at Tiananmen Square in '89 remains unknown. The Chinese government's figures were clearly low, and sources typically report hundreds. This is what makes the iconic photo of a man peaceably standing before a column of tanks so memorable. Here, certainly, was one -- one man who refused to step aside.
Jazzy Activism
The Spirit of '89 Event, co-hosted by the PEN Freedom to Write Project and the ACLU, was a welcome respite from the more formal panels of the other events. It was set in Joe's Pub in an atmosphere of jazzy spotlights and sashaying cocktail waitresses. Instead of a panel format, a solo mic dominated the stage and individual writers were given a direct spotlight.
| | | | | | | Wednesday, April 29, 2009 9:33PM | | | | Prison Deform: FictionthatMatters | Tags: hwang sok-yong, khet mar, susan rosenberg, jose dalisay, prison, human rights, prison writing, jackson taylor, pen world voices
| | | Don't write about it...
We do not like to talk about prison. We look the other way when we drive by the barbed wire, change the subject to something brighter (something more 'free'), or mutter a thanks to the system when certain kinds of criminals are incarcerated (the 'bad' kind).
Do not be alarmed: we are meant to fear prisons. They are supposed to serve as a deterrent against breaking the law. They are also meant to punish criminals, or restore them, and the state has taken full responsibility for accomplishing these aims. Right?
But it's more complicated. Some people are imprisoned for their political beliefs, others for crimes precipitated by structural inequalities, and some entirely by accident. Suddenly we're... | | | | | |
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