www.pen.

org

or: My adventures in the not-for-profit world of the PEN American Center.

WEEK 6
Tuesday, Nov 10 - Wednesday, Nov 11 - Normal 10:30 am meeting on Tuesday. The Prison Writing event Annual report postcard text
took place the day before, and everyone seems pleased with the event. I didn’t get a chance to go,
I wasn’t sure if I could or not (the tickets were $100). It would have been nice to see my work in some In this time of worldwide fiscal challenge, and with
kind of context. our carbon footprint in mind, we are reducing the
number of Annual Reports we print this year. The
It’s becoming clear that I’m treated differently from the other interns. A concern about answering Report will be available on our website.
the door and directing visitors was brought up at last week’s traffic meeting, and someone suggested
getting an intern to do it. Every time someone says “an intern” I know they’re not talking about me. If you would like to receive a printed version, please
People here refer to me by name. The other interns are for the most part responsible for generating email pen@pen.org to request a copy.
website content - transcribing interviews, formatting videos, etc. They go about their jobs with little
fanfare or interest. Whereas when I’m handed a project, the first thing I’m asked is whether I’m busy, The full Annual Report is available online at
and after I’m done, I’m thanked profusely. It kind of makes me uncomfortable. I try to joke around and www.pen.org/annualreport2009.
chat with the other interns, but I’m pretty much segregated from the rest of them in Antonio’s office
using the giant iMac. All in all, I’m sort of treated like a rock star.

On the flip side of that, I don’t have a real workstation - my desk is a long filing cabinet, and my chair is
a hand-woven wooden chair that seems to be on the verge of breaking apart every time I lean back.
There’s also a constant shuffling back and forth between Antonio and myself - every time he needs
to work with video, he needs to jump on the Mac; every time I need to print something out, I have to
go to his PC. Luckily my workload is such that this doesn’t really affect my output, but it isn’t terribly
convenient either.

It’s the end of the year and things are getting stressful in the cubicles around us. Robyn is working
hard trying to coordinate the printing of the annual report with the regular financial issues she has to
deal with. This leads to some tense phone calls in the office next door. Every so often Antonio and I will
chuckle at the snippets we hear, just because they’re she’s so blunt and matter of fact. I don’t really
understand the nitty-gritty of what’s going on, but I walk home everyday with this truth: Robyn Des
Hotel is not someone on whose bad side I want to get on. I wonder if I can hire her like Tony Soprano to
straighten out my problems with the Pratt registrar and bursar.

Antonio by contrast is more in line with the rest of PEN, a creative and literary type who’s in charge of
making things run smoothly. Some people choose leadership, some inherit it, and some have it thrust
upon them; Antonio is definitely the last one. At least once a day he gets irritated with the cubicle
environment and starts grumbling to himself. But as Managing Editor for the website, he has to keep
track of all the different departments and programs in PEN, and directs the weekly traffic meeting. His
voice is probably the second most important one, after Steve Isenberg, the Executive Director. I spend
a lot of time wondering how someone who so clearly hates bureaucracy and the buttoned-down
office mentality ended up becoming mission control for this organization. He’s definitely good at it, and
obviously believes in PEN’s work. Sometimes you gotta take one for the team, I guess.

Being so close to the end of the year, there’s a lot of design work to be done. The Annual Report
seems to be a done deal; originally I was excited about getting a chance to do add an annual report
to my portfolio, but at this point I’m so swamped with school work that PEN is kind of my vacation. I
put together a few layouts, get thanked profusely, and go home in time to watch the Simpsons. It’s the
least stressful part of my week. Having the Annual Report on my plate would ruin all that. At the same
time, I get to design a lot of the periphery that goes along with it, including postcards and newsletters.
Antonio has so much to do that he hasn’t e-mailed any project briefs to me, but he did give me a brief
rundown of what direction the newsletter and postcard would need to take, so I pretty much hit the
ground running when the content comes in.
Postcards to be e-mailed to members, advertising the
The redesign of the website is going slowly, but I’ve already worked in the visual elements of my annual report. I figured they’d have to look super-
branding scheme into a couple assignments, so that when my page goes up, it shouldn’t take anyone corporate. There still is my bizarre kind of humour at work
by surprise. I wonder if that’s on Antonio’s mind; sort of sneaking my rebranding through the back door though, with the juxtoposition of press conference type
images and the the words “annual report”. Maybe no one
so as not to alarm anyone. will get it, but it makes me laugh.

2009 Update for the Annual Appeal
PEN American Center’s New Executive Director
In June, PEN American Center bade farewell to Executive Director Michael
Roberts. During his more than ten years of service, PEN American Center
developed much of its key programming. In August, PEN happily announced
the selection of Steven L. Isenberg as its new Executive Director. For the
past six years, Mr. Isenberg was a Visiting Professor of Humanities at the
University of Texas (Austin). During his distinguished career, he has served
in a variety of leadership roles in journalism, government, academia and
law, including prior positions as interim President and Chairman of the
Board of Adelphi University, Publisher of New York Newsday, Executive
Vice President of the Los Angeles Times, and as Chief of Staff to New York
City Mayor John V. Lindsay. “In a richly varied career, Steven Isenberg has
demonstrated over and over again that he is imbued – as PEN is – with a love
of literature and an unyielding commitment to free expression around the
world,” said Kwame Anthony Appiah, President of PEN American Center.
“He has taught British and American literature and written elegantly about the
poets who have always inspired him. As a former newsman, he knows from
first hand experience why freedom of expression matters; and as a member
of the board of The Committee to Protect Journalists, Steve understands the
critical importance of organizations dedicated to protecting it. He combines
this vision with long experience as an effective and inspiring leader. I couldn’t
be more delighted to welcome him to the executive directorship of our
organization.”
Photo: SLI, from Beowulf. The one on the website.
Caption: Steven L. Isenberg
 
Focus on Iran
Update
Working to Eliminate Torture December 2009
www.pen.org
PEN American Center’s
One of PEN’s major initiatives over the past year has been to bring the voices New Executive Director
of writers who have played crucial roles in documenting torture and other
human rights abuses committed by the United States to bear on creating
national dialogues to assess responsibility and advance reconciliation. The
joint PEN American Center–American Constitution Society program “Voices
Against Torture: Writers and Lawyers on the Way Forward,” featuring
Jane Mayer, Anouar Benmalek, Elisa Massimino, Scott Horton, and Dahlia
Lithwick, was staged before a full house of 400 people on December 16,
2008 at Judson Memorial Church in New York. The program continues to
draw viewers on our web site, and a transcript of the conversation (titled
“Speaking of Torture”), along with an interview with Anouar Benmalek,
was subsequently published in PEN America 10: Fear Itself. PEN and the
In June, Pen American Center bade farewell
ACLU’s program “Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from to Executive Director Michael Roberts, under
the “War on Terror,” held on October 13, 2009, before an audience of 600 whose 11 years of leadership PEN grew and
prospered. In August, PEN happily announced
at Cooper Union’s Great Hall, presented some of the undeniable evidence the selection of Steven L. Isenberg as its new
Executive Director. In a richly varied career,
that prisoners were tortured, abused, and, in some cases, killed in U.S.
custody and that high level government officials authorized, encouraged, or Focus on Iran
tolerated the mistreatment. Participants were: Matthew Alexander, Jonathan From the mass arrests of journalists and
Ames, K. Anthony Appiah, Paul Auster, Ishmael Beah, David Cole, Don reform advocates, to the violent suppression
of peaceful demonstrations, to the draconian
DeLillo, Eve Ensler, Nell Freudenberger, Jenny Holzer, A. M. Homes, Jameel restrictions on international and domestic media,
the summer of 2009 was harrowing for many
Jaffer, Susanna Moore, Jack Rice, George Saunders, Amrit Singh, and Art of our colleagues in Iran. PEN American Center
Spiegelman. is working to win the release of all writers
and journalists currently in prison in Iran, and
to bring the voices of our Iranian colleagues
PEN American Center before international audiences. In July, follow-
Photo: ing the disputed June 12 presidential elections,
588 Broadway, Suite 303 PEN American Center joined with PEN Canada
New York, NY 10012 to organize an open letter signed by over 100
Telephone: (212) 334-1660
of the world’s most prominent writers, includ-
ing Wole Soyinka, Margaret Atwood, Orhan
Fax: (212) 334-2181 Pamuk, and Don DeLillo, calling for the release
of Canadian-Iranian journalist and playwright
Maziar Bahari, who had been held incom-
For more information on municado in Tehran since June 21, 2009. On
July 15, 2009, the same day of the open letter’s
PEN campaigns, events, publication in Newsweek, The Washington Post,
and The International Herald Tribune, PEN
programs, and Membership
produced “Iran: A Conversation About the
please visit: www.pen.org Elections, Protest, and the Future” at the 92nd
Front and back of the newsletter. I was instructed to keep
my redesign roughly the same format as the previous one.
I snuck in the rebranded masthead that I’ve been using for
the website.
Steve has held leadership roles in journalism,
government, academia and law, including prior
positions as Publisher of New York Newsday,
Executive Vice President of The Los Angeles
Times, interim President and Chairman of the
Board of Adelphi University, and Chief of Staff
to New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay. For
the past six years, Steve was a Visiting Professor
of Humanities at the University of Texas (Austin).
“Steven Isenberg has demonstrated over
and over again that he is imbued - as PEN
is - with a love of literature and an unyielding
commitment to free expression around the
world,” said Kwame Anthony Appiah, President
of PEN American Center. “He has taught
British and American literature and written
elegantly about the poets who have always
inspired him. As a former newsman, he knows
from first-hand experience why freedom of
expression matters; and as a member of the
board of The Committee to Protect Journalists,
Steve understands the critical importance of
organizations dedicated to protecting it. He
combines this vision with long experience as
an effective and inspiring leader. I couldn’t be
more delighted to welcome him to the executive
directorship of our organization.”
Street Y, where scholars and journalists Shaul
Bakhash, Roger Cohen, Haleh Esfandiari, and
Karim Sadjadpour discussed the crackdown and
its implications for Iran’s future. This event was
co-sponsored by The New York Review of Books
and the 92nd St Y. Bahari was released on bail
on October 17th and is now at home in London
with his wife. PEN American Center continues to
call on the Iranian authorities to drop his case
and allow him the freedom to travel and to
resume his profession.

From the mass arrests of journalists and reform advocates, to the violent
suppression of peaceful demonstrations, to the draconian restrictions on
international and domestic media, the summer of 2009 was harrowing for Update
many of our colleagues in Iran. PEN American Center is working to win the December 2009 [continued]
release of all writers and journalists currently in prison in Iran, and to bring
the voices of our Iranian colleagues before international audiences. In July, There was a tense moment on Working to viewers on our web site, and a transcript
of the conversation (titled “Speaking of
Homes, Jameel Jaffer, Susanna Moore,
Jack Rice, George Saunders, Amrit Singh,
following the disputed June 12 presidential elections, PEN American Center Wednesday evening when Steve Eliminate Torture Torture”), along with an interview with and Art Spiegelman.
Anouar Benmalek, was subsequently
joined with PEN Canada to organize an open letter signed by over 100 of the was reviewing the newsletter a maJor Pen initiative over the past published in PEN America 10: Fear
Caption: “Reckoning with Torture” year has been to engage the voices of Itself. Another program, “Reckoning with
world’s most prominent writers, including Wole Soyinka, Margaret Atwood, before approving it. He was going writers who have played crucial roles in Torture: Memos and Testimonies from
documenting torture and other human the ‘War on Terror’,” held on October
Orhan Pamuk, and Don DeLillo, calling for the release of Canadian-Iranian over the newsletter in the office rights abuses committed by the U.S. in 13th presented undeniable evidence that
prisoners were tortured, abused, and,
journalist and playwright Maziar Bahari, who had been held incommunicado next door, and I overheard the national dialogues to assess responsibility
2009 PEN World Voices Festival and advance reconciliation. The joint PEN in some cases, killed in U.S. custody,
in Tehran since June 21, 2009. On July 15, 2009, the same day of the open conversation. He wanted to add American Center-American Constitution
Society program “Voices Against Torture:
and that high level government officials
authorized, encouraged, or tolerated this
letter’s publication in Newsweek, The Washington Post, and The International a textbox to the first page, instead Writers and Lawyers on the Way Forward,” treatment. Co-sponsored by the ACLU,
The fifth annual PEN World Voices Festival, held from April 27 to May 3, which featured Jane Mayer, Anouar this event drew an audience of 600 to
Herald Tribune, PEN staged “Iran: A Conversation About the Elections, of the pic of his “big fat head” (his Benmalek, Elisa Massimino, Scott Horton, Cooper Union’s Great Hall and featured
brought together 198 writers from 41 countries, representing 18 languages. and Dahlia Lithwick, was staged before Matthew Alexander, Jonathan Ames, K.
Protest, and the Future” at the 92nd Street Y, where scholars and journalists words, not mine). The text was tight Anthony Appiah, Paul Auster, Ishmael
The 76 Festival events, with took place in Manhattan and Brooklyn with a full house of 400 people on December
Shaul Bakhash, Roger Cohen, Haleh Esfandiari, and Karim Sadjadpour enough already without adding 16, 2008 at Judson Memorial Church in Beah, David Cole, Don DeLillo, Eve Ensler,
satellite events at Washington College in Maryland, attracted live audiences of New York. The program continues to draw Nell Freudenberger, Jenny Holzer, A. M. “reckoning with torture”

discussed the crackdown and its implications for Iran’s future. Bahari was any more content. I cringed at the
nearly 15,000. Hundreds of thousands more are accessing the Festival events
released on bail on October 17th and is now at home in London with his wife. idea of having to relay everything 2009 PEN World Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa,” with Larry
via the PEN web site. The Festival’s theme was “Evolution/Revolution,” Siems, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., Richard North
PEN American Center continues to call on the Iranian authorities to drop his out to make room for it. Luckily, Voices Festival Patterson, Okey Ndibe, Steve Connell, and
exploring critical social and cultural changes in our world and what writers Sekou. Participants included Salwa Al Neimi
case and allow him the freedom to travel and to resume his profession. Megan and Linda were able to talk
can tell us about how the world repeats itself, destroys itself, renews itself. the FIFth annual PEN World Voices (Syria/France), Muriel Barbery (France),
him out of it. Their concern was that Festival, held from April 27 to May 3, Wafaa Bilal (Iraq), Horacio Castellanos
Participants included Salwa Al Neimi (Syria/France), Bernardo Axtaga brought together 198 writers from 41 Moya (El Salvador/US), Frankétienne
Photo: any more changes would mean countries, representing 18 languages. (Haiti), Neil Gaiman (UK), Petina Gappah
(Spain), Muriel Barbery (France), Wafaa Bilal (Iraq), Horacio Castellanos The 76 Festival events, which took place (Zimbabwe), David Grossman (Israel),
delaying the newsletter until the in Manhattan and Brooklyn with satellite Mariken Jongman (Netherlands), Mark
Moya (El Salvador/US), Mark Z. Danilewski (US), Frankétienne (Haiti), Neil
following Tuesday, the next time events at Washington College in Maryland, Kurlansky (US), Nam Le (Vietnam),
Gaiman (UK), Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe), David Grossman (Israel), Mariken attracted live audiences of nearly 15,000. Fuad Rifka (Lebanon), and Uljana Wolf
I would be in the office. It never Hundreds of thousands continue to access (Germany). This year’s PEN/Arthur Miller
Jongman (Netherlands), Mark Kurlansky (US), Nam Le (Vietnam), Lou Reed the Festival events via the PEN web site. Freedom to Write Lecture was presented
occured to them to ask me to stay Festival events included: “The New York by the renowned Egyptian novelist and
(US), Fuad Rifka (Lebanon), and Uljana Wolf (Germany). This year’s PEN/
late or work on it in my free time. Review Of Books: The Economic Crisis And psychiatrist Nawal El Saadawi, who argued
Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture was presented by the renowned How To Deal With It,” featuring Senator that social revolutions are necessary and
This is the greatest job I’ve ever Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, that they must grow from criticisms of
Egyptian novelist and psychiatrist Nawal El Saadawi and was followed by a Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, and Robin political and religious authority coupled
had. It’s not so much an internship Wells; and “Standing Before History: with the creativity of the artistic class.
conversation between the author and Kwame Anthony Appiah, President of
nawaal el saadawi and K. anthony appiah

as a weird experiment in catch

PEN’s Board. PEN American Center
and release fishing, with me as a
human small-mouthed bass. Honored by the
Photo: Nawaal El Saadawi/Appiah National Book
Critics Circle
on march 12, 2009, the National
Book Critics Circle (NBCC) presented
PEN American Center with the 2008 Ivan
Caption: to come, will just list the people in the picture Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.
With past winners including Studs Terkel,
Richard Howard, The Library of America,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Alfred Kazin, and
Elizabeth Hardwick, the prize honors
outstanding dedication to literary culture. In
announcing the Award, the NBCC saluted
PEN’s heightened emphasis in recent
years on promoting international literary
fellowship through the establishment of
PEN World Voices, the encouragement
of translation through PEN awards and
grants, and PEN’s day-in, day-out defense
of writers who are persecuted for their
exercise of free expression. Former PEN
President Francine Prose said of the Award:
“PEN has always stood for the proposition
that the shared human concerns that are
central to literature must take precedence
over issues of ideology and nationality.
PEN pledges to continue its efforts to help
sustain a vigorous global exchange of art
and ideas through programs like the PEN
World Voices Festival, the PEN Translation
Awards and our flagship Freedom to Write
Program.”
from Nick Burd <Nick@pen.org>
to Antonio Aiello <Antonio@pen.org>,
Chuck Leung <chuck@pen.org>
cc Adrian Camoens <adrian.camoens@gmail.com>
date Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 3:46 PM
subject Beyond Margins
mailed-by pen.org

hide details Nov 10 (1 day ago)

Here is some language for the Beyond Margins note in the newsletter. Also, I believe
we talked about Adrian designing an email invite for this, correct? I think it would be
good to send that out no later than next Wednesday, which is two weeks out from the
event. Will that be possible?

Waiting on a bio for the press release. Will have it tomorrow, according to the
participant...

Crossing Over: The 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Celebration

Join us for an evening of readings featuring Uwem Akpan. Juan Felipe Herrera,
and Lily Hoang, the winners of the 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Awards. Host Jane
Ciabattari of the National Book Critics Circle will lead a panel discussion about the
pathway to critical and commercial success and how the winning titles borrow from
multiple genres to create works that are vital and engaging.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7pm

Housing Works Bookstore and Café
126 Crosby Street, New York City

Nick Burd
Manager of Membership and Literary Awards

Flyers for Beyond Margins. Antonio’s direction

was to try and capture that these are writers
from historically disenfranchised/ignored
communities, that they’re not the usual WASP
literary crowd. Basquiat was given as a potential
direction. With the first two I tried to capture the
feeling of graphitti and “street cred.” I liked the
visual pun of the white figure in the box and the
“coloured” figure bursting out of it, though I don’t
think anyone will get it. The third one is obviously
the result of getting beaten over the head with
constructivism and the early 20th century avant
garde in History of ComD. Thanks, Adrian. These
I find working in black and white incredibly look sweet. Yes, sweet.
liberating. That relic adjective of
the 80s. I'll pass on to
folks tomorrow.

Antonio