Monday, April 27, 2015

Writers Withdraw From Gala After PEN Honors Charlie Hebdo

Six writers have withdrawn from PEN American Center’s annual gala after the organization decided to give an award to satirical French news magazine Charlie Hebdo.

PEN American Center

At the 2015 PEN Literary Gala, Paris-based satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will be honored with the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award.

"It is the role of the satirists in any free society to challenge the powerful and the sacred, pushing boundaries in ways that make expression freer and more robust for us all. In paying the ultimate price for the exercise of their freedom, and then soldiering on amid devastating loss, Charlie Hebdo deserves to be recognized for its dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory."

Via pen.org

The Charlie Hebdo attacks dealt a blow to the bedrock principle that no act of expression, no matter how provocative or offensive, can justify violence.

Via pen.org

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If Edgar Allan Poe Quotes Were Motivational Posters

You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing.

Andrew Ray/Alamy

Scott Stulberg/Corbis

Mac Stones/Tandem Stills/Motion

Barry Hamilton/Corbis


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Vote In Round 2 Of April Madness: The “Avengers” Edition

Who is the greatest Avenger of them all?

Marvel / Via michelravey.com

Tie in Round 1:

Tie in Round 1:

Since She-Hulk and Firestar ended round 1 in a tie, we deferred to Marvel's own ranking of Avengers to determine which heroine would move on. As Firestar was rated at 41 and She-Hulk came in at 21 in Marvel's list, She-Hulk will advance.


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Finals Week, As Told By William Shakespeare

On cheating: “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.”


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45 Quotes From Literature That Will Actually Change Your Life

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Submitted by Jacob

Sergii Tsololo / Getty Images

2. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Submitted by Shelley Schoppert, Facebook

3. "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
—J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Submitted by Bram NL, Facebook

4. "I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities."
—Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Submitted by Erik

5. "You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do."
—David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
Submitted by Marianne Myers, Facebook

Submitted by Jennifer Fraioli, Facebook

John Foxx / Getty Images


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