• Coffee Corner

    Coffee Corner

    Bushra al-Maqtari on how Sana’a, Yemen, has changed. Translated by Sawad Hussain.

  • 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

  • Imagining the past – a few notes on the art of the historical novel

    Otto de Kat writes for PEN Atlas about the risks and benefits of using history in the novel, a device that when used badly can lead to over-writing and when used well serves the novelist like a butler

  • Syria – the betrayed uprising

    Samar Yazbek, journalist, author and winner of an English PEN Writers in Translation award, returns our attention to Syria, the cynicism of the regime, the influence of outside powers, and how these combine at a great cost to the people

  • Comics, cartoons and controversy

    Michele Hutchison reports from the 41st Angoulême Comics Festival, the opportunities for, and resistance to, translation, and how the irreverent form of comics still finds time for plenty of controversy

  • Russian déjà vu at Sochi 2014 – who lost the games?

    Mikhail Shishkin writes our second PEN Atlas dispatch on the Sochi Winter Olympics,

  • What is the real cost of the Sochi Winter Olympics?

    Hamid Ismailov investigates the underside of the Sochi Olympics for PEN Atlas: while the Western media focuses on LGBT rights, there is also the shocking unheard story of migrant labourers held in captivity, mercury and uranium deposits from construction work, jingoism, corruption and worse

  • Deadlock in Ukraine

    Andrey Kurkov, author of the bestselling novel Death and the Penguin, writes about the ongoing turmoil in his country

  • PEN Atlas: literary dispatches from Turkey

    Maureen Freely introduces an exclusive new e-book from PEN Atlas, collecting some of the best journalism, memoir, essays and dispatches from Turkey, at a moment when the country is poised in the middle of great changes, both political and literary

  • Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 2

    Following last week’s installment, PEN Atlas continues with another round-up of publishers’ top picks for translated literature in 2014, including Iraqi science fiction from Comma Press, the return of Hitler from MacLehose Press, Finnish crime from Arcadia and much more…

  • Publishers' highlights in 2014: part 2

    Following last week’s installment, PEN Atlas continues with another round-up of publishers’ top picks for translated literature in 2014, including Iraqi science fiction from Comma Press, the return of Hitler from MacLehose Press, Finnish crime from Arcadia and much more…

  • Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • Publishers' highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • Living by the pen

    What is the cost of going on the payroll for a writer in Turkey?

  • Yule love these books in translation – 2013

    Want some expert advice on what to read in translation? Then look no further. Top writers, literary scouts, critics and festival directors recommend books to give – and devour – during the festive season. Enjoy!

  • Poetry in translation – The Popescu Prize 2013

    David Wheatley writes about the genius of mistranslation, Finnegans Wake syndrome, and being a judge on The Popescu Prize for poetry translated from a European language into English

  • A literature in search of its language

    Ciwanmerd Kulek charts the ongoing struggle for the Kurdish language, and whether being a language that is now more written than spoken threatens it in new and troubling ways

  • The duty to write

    Journalist-turned-freedom-fighter Mikail Eldin writes for PEN Atlas on his experience of the Chechen wars

  • PEN Atlas Q&A: Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the Jan Michalski Prize 2013

    Following his recent award of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi answers questions from Tasja Dorkofikis for PEN Atlas, charting the works, influences and world-view of Iran’s most important living writer

  • PEN Atlas Q&A: Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the Jan Michalski Prize 2013

    Following his recent award of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi answers questions from Tasja Dorkofikis for PEN Atlas, charting the works, influences and world-view of Iran’s most important living writer

  • On Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the Jan Michalski Prize

    Sahar Delijani charts the career of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, and how his work has forged the conscience of his nation. Sahar’s PEN Atlas piece precedes an exclusive Q&A with Mahmoud Dowlatabadi tomorrow