For the fourth
consecutive year, novelists, poets, journalists and
writers from all over the world come together in
Manhattan for what can be described as a literary
smorgasbord that takes place in various venues across
town including Town Hall, The New School, The Bowery
Poetry Club, Webster Hall and Instituto Cervantes, to
name a few.
The event, which has
grown considerably since its first inception in 2005,
features readings, book releases, panels and discussions
on different topics that affect both authors and readers
alike. Among the many themes for this years events are
the crisis in Darfur (featuring a conversation with
actress Mia Farrow), the influence on the writer's
private life on his or her writing and the art of
translation.
Politics also play a
part on the festival: in 2006, there was a broad
discussion on the Patriot Act and the Bush
administrations denial of visas for visiting artists on
ambiguous grounds. This time around, there will be a
press conference in which several participants,
including Salman Rushdie,
Francine Prose, Edward
Albee and Rick Moody will
announce the delivery of a petition to the Chinese
Mission to the United
Nations demanding the release of 39 writers and
journalists imprisoned in
China who PEN believes have been jailed for exercising
their right to speak and write freely.
Participants to PEN
range from big names such as Umberto Eco, Rushdie, Mario
Vargas Llosa and lesser-known names, such as Portuguese
novelist own Gonalo Tavares, the author of the
award-winning novel Jerusalem and New Yorker
writer Andy Borowitz.
