PEN dinner honoring anti-Putin dissident writers

I attended the PEN dinner last night honoring Russian anti-Putin writers, novelist Lyudmila Ulitstaya and poet Maria Stepanova. In a discussion moderated by Gary Steyngart, the Russian writers spoke of the increasing constraints on freedom of expression in Putin's Russia, an Orwellian disregard for the truth, and the intense pressures on LGBT voices. We are honored to include many of these brave writers in our 2013 Big Bridge anthology, Twenty-first Century Russian Poetry. And, in many ways, are we not heading for the same boat?
Twenty-first Century Russian Poetry

Just Announced: Pussy Riot at PEN Gala on May 5

Just announced: Members of Pussy Riot will join Toni Morrison and honorees Salman Rushdie and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at the PEN Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on May 5.