Including an introduction by PEN President Francine Prose, a conversation with Nobel Prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer, and a concluding statement by Salman Rushdie. 

"I write. I imagine. The act of imagining in itself enlivens me. I am not frozen and paralyzed before the predator. I invent characters. At times I feel as if I am digging up people from the ice in which reality enshrouded them, but maybe, more than anything else, it is myself that I am now digging up." >> Read the lecture


The Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture with David Grossman

Amiri Baraka reads “Rhythm Travel” at the 2008 Beyond Margins Celebration.


Amiri Baraka Reads “Rhythm Travel”

The celebrated poet reads the seminal letter of political protest, in which she became the first and only person to date to refuse the highest honor bestowed upon an artist on behalf of the people. Background and discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/16/adrienne-rich-national-medal-of-arts-letter/

Adrienne Rich declines the National Medal of Arts, 1997

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.  Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.


The Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture with David Grossman

PEN America

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