<HEAD>
<STYLE>body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}</STYLE>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3268" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=compText>
<STYLE>body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}</STYLE>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3268" name=GENERATOR>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 24pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Humanst521 Cn BT'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Humanst521 Cn BT'">Cambridge</SPAN></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 24pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Humanst521 Cn BT'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Humanst521 Cn BT'"> Forum</SPAN></B></FONT><A name=BM4><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></A></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: BM4"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></B></SPAN><st1:Street><st1:address><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: BM4"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">3 Church Street</SPAN></B></SPAN></st1:address></st1:Street><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'WP TypographicSymbols'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'WP TypographicSymbols'">!</SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></B><st1:place><st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Cambridge</SPAN></B></st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, </SPAN></B><st1:State><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MA</SPAN></B></st1:State><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></B><st1:PostalCode><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">02138</SPAN></B></st1:PostalCode></st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 4"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">PEN </SPAN></B><st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">New England</SPAN></B></st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"> and the </SPAN></B><st1:City><st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">Cambridge</SPAN></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"> Forum to host<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">THE AMERICAN BLANDSCAPE</SPAN></B><B><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT">: Risky Writing and the Forces that Silence It<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><st1:date Month="4" Day="10" Year="2008"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">April 10, 2008</SPAN></B></st1:date><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">, </SPAN></B><st1:time Hour="19" Minute="30"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT">7:30 p.m.</SPAN></B></st1:time><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The First Parish (Unitarian Universalist) in </SPAN></B><st1:City><st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Cambridge</SPAN></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><st1:Street><st1:address><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">3 Church Street</SPAN></B></st1:address></st1:Street><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><st1:place><st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Cambridge</SPAN></B></st1:City><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, </SPAN></B><st1:State><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MA</SPAN></B></st1:State><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></B><st1:PostalCode><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">02138</SPAN></B></st1:PostalCode></st1:place><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Free and Open to the Public<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">On Thursday, April 10, PEN New England’s Freedom-to-Write (FTW) Committee, in partnership with the Cambridge Forum, will host <B><I>The American Blandscape</I></B>, a panel discussion about the forces in the world of publishing, society at large, and our own psyches that work to silence “risky writing,” the most dangerous but also most important of an author’s works.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The discussion takes place at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church at </SPAN><st1:Street><st1:address><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">3 Church Street</SPAN></st1:address></st1:Street><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"> in </SPAN><st1:address><st1:Street><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">Harvard Square</SPAN></st1:Street><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">, </SPAN><st1:City><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">Cambridge</SPAN></st1:City></st1:address><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">, at </SPAN><st1:time Hour="19" Minute="30"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">7:30 p.m.</SPAN></st1:time><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"> It is free and open to the public. Books by the participants will be available for sale and signing courtesy of the Harvard Bookstore.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT face="Times New Roman">The panel, moderated by Richard Hoffman, poet, fiction writer, and author of the memoir <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Half the House</I>, will feature:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<UL style="MARGIN-TOP: 0in" type=disc>
<LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Carole Horne</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">, General Manager, Harvard Book Store, long a supporter of the freedom to read and write;<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></LI></UL>
<UL style="MARGIN-TOP: 0in" type=disc>
<LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Linda McCarriston, </SPAN></STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">professor of creative writing and literary arts at the </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceType><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">University</SPAN></st1:PlaceType><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"> of </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Alaska</SPAN></st1:PlaceName></st1:place><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">, poet and National Book Award finalist for <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Eva-Mary</I>;<STRONG> <o:p></o:p></STRONG></SPAN></FONT>
<LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Mark Pawlak, </SPAN></STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">professor of mathematics, </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceType><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">University</SPAN></st1:PlaceType><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"> of </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Massachusetts</SPAN></st1:PlaceName></st1:place><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">, </SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Boston</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">, editor of Hanging Loose Press and poet, whose most recent collection is <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Official Versions</I>;<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT>
<LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Jill Petty, </SPAN></STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">editor and small press publisher.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></LI></UL>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><STRONG><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">The importance of politically challenging fiction and poetry throughout history is undeniable: from Turgenev’s powerful “A Sportsman’s Notebook,” which prompted Czar Alexander II to become the first world leader to free his country’s slaves, to the Lost Generation’s opposition to fascism; from Ginsburg’s “Howl” to Doris Lessing’s fiction to James Baldwin’s powerful and incisive essays. Has such writing been effectively denied its audience in our day? To what extent are the barriers to risky or oppositional writing real or imagined? What are the long-term societal and cultural dangers of a safe literature, of books as mere entertainment or escape? And what are the individual author and the reader hungry for substance, to do?</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Most of us are familiar with the trends in publishing favoring a few big-name authors at the expense of the lesser known perhaps riskier writer: big publishers taking a </SPAN><st1:place><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">Hollywood</SPAN></st1:place></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"> blockbuster approach to deciding what books to publish and market. Profit being the index of success, publishers no longer seem to feel an obligation, as Andre Chiffron has pointed out, to publish, even at a loss, a modicum of important, risky books each year. Many serious or unknown authors must look more and more to small presses to publish their work, but systemic distribution challenges make it hard for these books to reach a wide audience. The rock-star argument even exists in the academy: often authors with books published at smaller presses find it much harder to get tenure than those with books from the big publishers.<BR><BR>But is there something more insidious than the market at work? In her <EM>The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters </EM>(short-listed for the <EM>Guardian</EM> First Book Award), Frances Stonor Saunders details how after World War II the CIA penetrated and influenced a vast array of cultural organizations, publishing and translating well-known authors who toed the Washington line, sponsoring abstract art to counter art with any social content, and subsidizing those journals that criticized revolutionary politics and defended or ignored violent and destructive U.S. policies at home and abroad.<BR> </SPAN><B><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><B><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">The American Blandscape </SPAN></I></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">is being held in conjunction with the presentation of PEN </SPAN><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">New England</SPAN></st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">’s annual <I>Vasyl Stus Freedom-to-Write Award </I>and the <I>Thomas Paine Freedom-to-Write Award for American Writers</I>. <I><o:p></o:p></I></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">PEN New England </SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">is one of five regional branches of </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">PEN</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">American</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">Center</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black">, which in turn is part of International PEN, the only worldwide organization of writing professionals and the world’s first human rights organization.PEN’s mission is to promote literacy and a culture of literature, and to defend free expression everywhere</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #333333">.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #333333"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Cambridge Forum</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"> is open to the public.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Open discussion follows speaker presentation.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Events are taped and edited for public radio broadcast throughout the nation.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Edited CDs are available to the public by contacting 617-495-2727.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Select forums can be viewed in their entirety on demand by visiting our website at <A href="http://www.cambridgeforum.org/"><SPAN class=SYSHYPERTEXT><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><FONT color=#0000ff>www.cambridgeforum.org</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A> and clicking on the WGBH Forum Network.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><FONT face="Times New Roman">For more information contact pen_ne@lesley.edu, or visit cambridgeforum.org<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P></BODY><pre>
Cambridge Forum
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone/fax: 617-495-2727
email: mailto:director@cambridgeforum.org
website: http://www.cambridgeforum.org
"Bringing People together to talk again . . ."
</pre>