The past and the present side by side: a conversation with Peter Kimani
Kenyan writer Peter Kimani talks to us about how he tackled the past in his latest novel, representing otherness, and freedom of speech in Kenya.
Africa
Africa – PEN Transmissions
From Afrikaans to English: on writing and translating 'The Alphabet of Birds'
S J Naudé writes about the experience of translating your own short story collection
Rain and Bamboo
Juan Tomas Avila Laurel writes from Equatorial Guinea about local literature and languages of faraway places
Yule love these books in translation 2014
Roasting chestnuts on an open fire, taking the first whiff of mulled wine, and cracking open a great work of literature in translation: find your stocking-filler or winter-cheerer with these recommendations
To speak or not to speak, that is the question
Boualem Sansal charts the history of Algeria and how it ties into the history of free expression in his country
A Golden Age for the African Short Story
On 14 July 2014, Okwiri Oduor became the 15th winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, for her short story ‘My Father’s Head’, making her the third Kenyan winner of the Prize
The translator as literary activist
Jethro Soutar writes for PEN Atlas on the urgent case of Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, the PEN-award-winning author whom he translates and is now trying to help protect, as Juan faces persecution from the regime in Equitorial Guinea
Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1
Chase away those stormy blues with a new book for the new year.
The Achebe I Knew
Ahead of the Africa Writes festival 2013 (5-7 July) PEN Atlas hears from African writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on his friend and mentor Chinua Achebe. Ngũgĩ will appear in conversation with his son Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ on Saturday 6 July at the British Library.
Turning up the volume
Yasmine El Rashidi, contributor to the PEN-award-winning title Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus, tells PEN Atlas about growing up learning English: exile and community, being alienated and finding her voice
Stolen Eyes
In advance of his UK tour this week, acclaimed writer and painter Mahi Binebine treats PEN Atlas readers to a short story about young people in Morocco and the 'art' of sleeping.
Translation, Revolution, and Pedagogy
Following her appearance at the Literary Translation Centre for London Book Fair 2013, Samia Mehrez writes about working collaboratively on the book Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir, which uses multiple perspectives to translate the linguistic and cultural meanings of the momentous events in her country
