Open Book: Reflecting on Black History Month

With Black History Month as a starting point, the Open Book Feature reflects on the rich tradition of African American writing and art through podcasts, tributes, readings, poetry, fiction, and original essays. Among the offerings are never-before-posted audio recordings of PEN tributes to James Baldwin and Langston Hughes and video from a 2004 conversation between Walter Mosley and Chris Abani. In addition to content from past PEN events, programs, and online features are new pieces by Cheryl Hudson, Martha Southgate, Mat Johnson, and others. This work explores the landmarks and intersections of African American art and writing, both addressing Black History Month as a concept and moving beyond the notion of an annual calendar-driven celebration.

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2009 Year in Review

2009 was a year of both celebration and loss. As an organization, PEN was awarded the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the PEN World Voices Festival as well as the 10th and 11th issues of PEN America, our award-winning literary journal. 2009 was not all celebrations. The world witnessed the brutal murder of Natalia Estimerova; the arrest, trial, and sentencing of Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo; the crackdown on opposition parties in Iran; and the continuation of questionable detention and rendition policies initiated under the Bush Administration. The year-end Feature showcases just a few of our events, publications, and advocacy campaigns.

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PEN America 11: Make Believe

PEN America 11: Make Believe examines—through fiction, poetry, drama, essays, and conversations—the question of belief in all (or many) of its forms. Alesksandar Hemon, Cynthia Ozick, Lynne Tillman, and others imagine books they wish they (or someone else) had written; Sigrid Nunez invents an orphanage full of “rapture children”; and Rivka Galchen pretends to be Lydia Davis and Peter Altenberg. Plus new fiction from Brian Evenson and Roxana Robinson; poetry by Reza Baraheni, Marie Ponsot, and Liu Xiaobo; notes from a manifesto by David Shields—and much, much more.

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2009 Beyond Margins Awards

Sponsored by the Open Book Program, the PEN/Beyond Margins Award celebrates outstanding books by writers of color published in the United States during the previous year. The Beyond Margins Award is one of the many ways in which the Open Book Program encourages racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities.

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2009 Prison Writing Awards

Every year, the PEN Prison Writing Program recognizes the work of writers imprisoned throughout the country. Exiled from our schools and society, inmates submit manuscripts in every form to one of the only forums of public expression for incarcerated writers. Presented below are uncensored writings from this year's Prison Writing Contest winners.

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2009 PEN Literary Awards

In 2009, PEN awarded more than 20 prizes to writers at work in a variety of genres. From fiction and drama to translation, biography, and poetry, the works of this year’s award recipients address universal themes of searching and loss, of beauty and the unknown. Below find excerpts from this year’s winning works, as well as audio recordings and photos from the 2009 Literary Awards Ceremony.

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PEN America 10: Fear Itself

What are you so afraid of? PEN America 10: Fear Itself examines the subject of  fear in all its guises. Edward Albee, Edwidge Danticat, and others think about what fear means to them. Plus new fiction from Lydia Davis and Etgar Keret, poems from Burma, fiction from Mexico—and much, much more.

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2009 World in Translation

Speaking across geographies, styles, and literary conventions, this month's online feature showcases some of the most interesting voices—old and new—in translation. Below find recent translations of fiction and poetry from around the world, doing the work that Susan Sontag calls "the circulatory system of the world’s literatures."

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2008 Year in Review

2008 has been a record year for PEN, with more events, advocacy work, and publications than ever. Below, check out some of our favorite parts of 2008, with original audio recordings, photos, and writing documenting some the year's truly memorable moments.

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The Present Past: Celebrating Writers of Color

On October 14, PEN hosted an evening to honor Chris Abani, Amiri Baraka, Frances Hwang, Joseph M. Marshall III, and Naeem Murr, winners of this year's PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Presented here are excerpts from the winning works, audio recordings of readings, and photos from the event.

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PEN America 9: Checkpoints

PEN America 9: Checkpoints showcases new work by writers from all over the world examining the literal and metaphorical barriers that scar the globe—with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama from China, Cuba, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, and the United States. Plus conversations with Ian McEwan, Jeffrey Eugenides, Aleksandar Hemon, and much more.

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Bringing Down the Great Firewall of China: Silenced Writers Speak

On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, PEN honored the more than 40 writers and journalists imprisoned in China. Acclaimed authors came together to lend voice to the silence that threatens the lives and work of these writers. Presented here are audio recordings and photos from the event, as well as extended pieces from writers persecuted, banned, and imprisoned in China.

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Prison Writing Awards

PEN's Prison Writing Program recognizes the work of incarcerated writers throughough the country. Exiled from our schools and society, inmates submit mauscripts to us in every form. Presented below are uncensored writings from this year's contest winners, as well as interviews and diaries from some of the most hidden voices in America.

Audio Excerpts, diaries, and bios

PEN Literary Awards

In 2008, PEN awarded 23 prizes to writers at work in a variety of genres. From fiction and drama to translation, biography, and poetry, the works of this year’s award recipients are about power play and politics, and the habitation and annihilation of structure. Below find excerpts from this year’s winning works, as well as audio recordings and photos from the 2008 Literary Awards Ceremony.

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PEN America 8: Making Histories

PEN America 8: Making Histories showcases writers from all over the world re-imagining the past and representing the overlooked—with fiction, poetry, essays, and conversation from Etgar Keret, Wu Ming, Ilija Trojanov, Marilynne Robinson, Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson, and many more.

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2007 Beyond Margins Awards

On October 15, 2007 PEN American Center hosted a special evening to honor Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ernest Hardy, Harryette Mullen, and Alberto Ríos, recipients of this year’s PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Presented in this month’s feature are audio recordings and photos from the event, excerpts from the winners’ works, and exclusive online conversations between Harryette Mullen and Erica Hunt, and Elizabeth Nunez and M.G. Vassanji.

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