Writer Horacio Castellanos Moya examines how journalists, not writers and intellectuals, are the new targets of the powerful elite. In Latin America, pursuing investigative journalism, like that of Lydia Cacho, can be a death sentence.
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On June 21, Cave Canem, in partnership with City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, presented its annual Pittsburgh reading where National Book Award winning poet Terrance Hayes read, along with poets Angela Jackson, Nikki Giovanni, Nikky Finney, and Thomas Sayers Ellis.
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Independent Chinese PEN Center Tienchi Martin-Liao profiles Tsering Woeser, an internationally renowned Tibetan poet and activist writer who reports on the situation in Tibet. Also commentary on the self-immolated monks whose stories Woeser shares in her blog.
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In this interview National Book Award winner Nikky Finney discusses her journey into poetry, her editing process, why she is frustrated with history’s lion hunters, and the story behind her gripping poem “The Afterbirth, 1931.”
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Venezuelan writer Israel Centeno draws troubling comparisons between the government-tolerated militias in Venezuela and Benito Mussolini’s shock troops. These armed militias are alleged to be responsible for the growing number of violent crimes.
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In this week’s From Egypt column, author Hamdy El-Gazzar writes an open letter to his friend Khalid Khalifa, a Syrian novelist who recently returned to war-torn Syria. Khalifa has issued calls to writers and the international community to “Rescue my people.”
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In this week’s Freedom of Speech Roundup, prominent investigative journalist Lydia Cacho flees Mexico after death threats, exiled satirist Abebe Tolla talks about censorship in Ethiopia, and author Alom Shaha calls for a discussion on Islam. Plus news and analysis from around the world.
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In this week’s Ethiopiques column exiled journalist Mesfin Negash discusses the apparent disappearance of Ethiopian president Meles Zenawi, who hasn’t been seen in public for over 50 days. Rumors are Zenawi might be critically ill or even dead.
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In this week’s Tea House column, the poet Khet Mar chronicles the work of Zaganar, a respected comedian, who despite multiple prison sentences, continues to fight for freedom of expression in Burma.
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Guatemalan writer Eduardo Halfon’s forthcoming novel The Polish Boxer is expected in October. Word Without Borders is appealing to readers to help bring Halfon to New York and London for a series of readings geared to high school students. We share a video of Halfon talking about his new novel.
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