Weekend notes

English PEN is creating an Online World Atlas that will, eventually, tell you “everything you need to know about the world’s great writers and emerging voices.” Here’s the thing: “All the content is added by you: readers and writers who want to pass on your tips and create a new global community of readers.” It’s a work in progress, so, if you’re interested, go help out.

Triboro Pictures is producing a movie, The Fragile Mistress, based on Leora Skolkin-Smith’s novel Edges, which was edited and published by the late Grace Paley. They’ve gotten permission to shoot the movie in Jordan and Israel, and now just need to raise the money...

FENCE is emulating Radiohead: Donate any amount between now and the end of April and get a subscription to the excellent magazine for one year.

Amitava Kumar posted a lovely write-up of the Philip Roth birthday tribute:

All this while, the panelists were aware that the man himself was sitting in the front row, looking at them, the fingers of each hand lightly pressed against the other in front of his mouth. He was like a judge watching the lawyers presenting their case, all the young men appearing to be in agreement with each other on the court floor.

You can also listen to the event.

Lastly, Bill Johnston won a much-deserved award from the Polish Cultural Institute for his terrific translation of New Poems by Tadeusz Rozewicz, published by the excellent Archipelago Books. One of my favorite poems from the collection appears in PEN America 8: Making Histories (which you can order here); it’s called “Regression in die Ursuppe” (that last word is German for something like “primordial soup”). Here’s how it begins:

in the beginning was a thick
soup which under the influence
of light (and heat)

produced life

from the soup emerged a creature
or rather something
that transformed itself into yeast
into a chimpanzee
eventually god came along
and created humans
man and woman
sun cat and tick

humans invented the wheel
wrote Faust

and began printing
paper money....

PS. The photos above were submitted by Boria Sax and Susan Shapiro for the mixed media project mentioned below. And don't forget to check out the online confessional, too...