Global Voices at the PEN Festival

Salman Rushdie and Patti Smith were just two of the many literary stars who kicked off the 2010 Pen World Voices Festival at The 92nd Street Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center. The festival showcased writers from around the globe, including those whose voices are often silenced by censorship in their own countries. On opening night, writers from China, Afghanistan and Estonia read their own works — in their native language and in translation. Bernard Schwartz, Director of the Unterberg Poetry Center and Steven L. Isenberg, the Executive Director of PEN America introduced the festival and the evening’s program.