Iranian novelist Yaghoub Yadali responds to Philip Roth’s recent announcement of his retirement with a deeply honest letter addressed to the celebrated author. While Yadali understands Roth’s reasons for calling it quits, he explains why “for an Iranian writer, retirement is meaningless.”
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We look back at the most-read columns of 2013, featuring contributions from Tarik Günersel (Turkey), Bina Shah (Pakistan), Khet Mar (Burma), Israel Centeno (Venezuela), Hamdy el-Gazzar (Egypt), Tienchi Martin-Liao (China), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), and Yaghoub Yadali (Iran).
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In this segment of The Writer’s Block, French author Laurent Binet discusses his relationship with his editors, the risks of mixing history and fiction, and why he doesn’t make a distinction between author and narrator.
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In anticipation of the coming new year, Sampsonia Way looks back at the most-watched Writer’s Block video interviews of 2013. The Writer’s Block is an ongoing video series of interviews with visiting writers at City of Asylum/Pittsburgh.
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“Expatriation—waking up one morning startled by agoraphobia, sentenced and expelled with no possibility of return—has another name and, why not, another destination: Saskatchewan.” Israel Centeno on Richard Ford’s novel, Canada.
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In this segment of The Writer’s Block, the Belgian novelist Ivo Victoria discusses how becoming a writer has made him a reader, how music is his biggest stylistic influence, and how he plays the ‘game between fact and fiction.’
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Booker-prize winner, Kiran Desai, talks with PEN International’s Sarah Clarke about threats to freedom of expression in India and the role of PEN. The interview was took place at PEN’s 79th Congress in Iceland in September 2013, where Desai spoke on behalf of the newly launched PEN Delhi Centre.
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