The Three Musketeers in New York

From April 29 through May 4, I was in New York for the PEN World Writers Fesitval "Public Lives/Private Lives."

First, I should probably tell you what PEN is and how I found myself at this big event.  Pen is a worldwide organization built to foster writers. At the heart of its mission is its year-round work in defense of writers and of freedom of expression around the world.

I am not a member (membership in the organization requires that you have 3 published works and the contracts to prove them). Prior to February 2008,  I didn't know about this festival. It was my lovely understanding husband, who saw the ad for the PEN Program featuring The Three Musketeers: Salman Rushdie, Mario Vargas Llosa and Umberto Eco in a air travel magazine and, recognizing that I was in a writer's slump and needed change and inspiration, said "you should go."

Astounded that I knew so few of these world authors, I decided that I would go if for no other reason than to expand my reading list and interests; and along the way I not only enjoyed finding my way around the big city by myself, (see my blog Road Writer for the months of May and June), I learned a lot.

What stood out clearly was that most of us don't know these writers. Why? Because, if my notes are correct, only three-percent of world literature is translated into English whereas a majority of books in English are translated into many different languages.

While US publishers seem to think that the average American reader is as insular as the nation those readers live in, many of these world writers face additional daunting scenarios: Intimidation, censorship, and prison. A poignant reminder of this repression was the empty chair placed on stage to symbolize these writers' absence. Before each program began, these writers names were read aloud, their "crimes" and punishments listed and honored. A different writer for each empty chair at every program, mostly Chinese writers: imprisoned, tortured, some dead or dying behind bars.

All the events I attended were excellent but The Three Musketeers Reunited event was top notch. The three greats read their most recent work and then sat in big arm chairs for a literary discussion. They agreed, disagreed, challenged, laughed, and were so totally at ease with one another that were it not for the stage and the thousands of listeners, one could easily imagine them at a table with good wine and great food talking well into the night.

Tom Hunter, popular Gather writer and photographer came with me to this event.  I had purchase two tickets and didn't want the second one to go to waste. We met downtown, had a bite to eat and took the subway uptown to 92nd Street.

Crowded is hardly the right adjective for this event. Packed like caviar in a can is more apt description. You can access this event by heading over to Tom's Gather Page as he'd brought his camera with movie and voice options along.

© Beryl Singleton Bissell 2008

The Minneapolis Star Tribune named Beryl as a "Best of 2006 Minnesota Authors." Her book The Scent of God  was a "Notable" Book Sense selection for April 2006. She is a columnist for the Cook County News Herald and has been published in anthologies and periodicals nationwide. See Road Writer for her travel blog.