Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”

Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”

With Matthew Alexander, Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Eve Ensler, Jenny Holzer, Jack Rice, Amrit Singh, and Art Spiegelman

When: Tuesday, October 13
Where: The Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St., NYC
What time: 7 p.m.

Tickets: $15/$10 for PEN/ACLU Members and students with valid ID at www.smarttix.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

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On Tuesday, October 13, at 7 p.m. in Cooper Union’s Great Hall, PEN will join forces with the ACLU for one of the most important events of our fall calendar to call attention to acts of torture and abuse carried out by the United States since 9/11. At a time when the world’s eyes are on America and the Obama administration has taken important steps toward addressing the mistreatment of prisoners over the past eight years, authors Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Eve Ensler, and Art Spiegelman will take the stage with Matthew Alexander (former U.S. interrogator and author of How to Break a Terrorist), Jack Rice (former CIA case officer), and Amrit Singh (staff attorney for the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project). They will read from recently released secret documents that have brought these abuses to light—memos, declassified communications, and testimonies by detainees. The event will also feature a special presentation by visual artist Jenny Holzer! .


Since 2003, the ACLU—the nation’s foremost advocate for human rights and civil liberties—has been instrumental in securing and making public documents regarding the government’s treatment of prisoners in American custody and in U.S. ‘black sites’. Both PEN and the ACLU believe writers have a crucial role to play in examining crimes committed in the name of their country and in helping the nation face, understand, and reckon with these terrible acts. Writers around the world have been active not only in exposing such crimes but also winning accountability for such abuses.

Join us as writers and artists take center stage to make a significant step together in the long process of national reflection and reconciliation.

PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
Tel. (212) 334-1660
Fax. (212) 334-2181
www.pen.org

PEN American Center : News bulletin

NEWS AT PEN

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>> Check out this September's online feature for excerpts from their work

2010 Literary Awards Call for Submissions

PEN American Center is now accepting submissions and nominations for the 2010 Literary Awards. PEN’s awards program is the most comprehensive and prestigious in the nation, honoring achievements in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, playwriting, and editing. For a complete list of awards and submission guidelines, visit www.pen.org/awards.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

September 13:
PEN at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Stop by the PEN booth to meet PEN Members and staff, learn how you can get involved with PEN's mission to defend free expression in the U.S. and abroad, and check out the live recording of PEN podcast conversations. At 1:00 p.m., on the International Stage, PEN will team up with Tin House to present Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia, with Dale Peck, Francine Prose, Anya Ulinich, Vadim Yarmolinets, Emily Gould, and Dmitry Danilov. >>More

September 21:
Writers' Roundtable with Nicholas Dawidoff

Join Jennifer Vanderbes, Chair of PEN's Writers' Roundtable Committee, and Nicholas Dawidoff for a discussion on craft and the writing life. >> More

October 13:
Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”

PEN American Center joins forces with American Civil Liberties Union to contront the acts of torture and abuse carried out on by the United States government since 9/11. Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, and Art Spiegelman take the stage with Matthew Alexander (former U.S. interrogator and author of How to Break a Terrorist) and Amrit Singh (staff attorney at the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project) to read from the recently-released secret documents that have brought these abuses to light and to reflect on how we can move forward as a nation. >> More