I was fortunate enough to hear two great writers today. President and Vicepresident of the PEN American Center we both invited to give a small speech at the Instituto Cervantes as part of the PEN Voices of the World Festival. I am, of course, talking about Salman Rushdie and Paul Auster. In the main photo for this post I am depicting Salman Rushdie’s speech, with Paul Auster’s back slightly out of focus. First to talk, Paul Auster gave a marvelous speech which included references to Lorca, the poet. Salman Rushdie gave a more informal speech about the PEN American Center and announced his continuation as President of this institution.

Here are a couple of extra photos taken at the same event. Enjoy!

Paul Auster

Paul Auster and Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie

Garden at the Instituto Cervantes

Garden at the Instituto Cervantes

I was today at the 40th Anniversary celebration of Anagrama, a Spanish publishing company, as part of the Pen World Voices Festival. The celebration took place at the Instituto Cervantes, in New York. In a panel organized by Eduardo Lago, Director of the Insituto Cervantes, Jorge Herralde presented 5 writers as a representative ensemble of their authors. In response, they talked about their relationship with the Editorial company. In the photo we see, from right to left: Enrique Vila-Matas, Francisco Goldman, A. M. Homes, Eduardo Lago,  Jorge Herralde, Siri Hustvedt, Paul Auster and Daniel Sada.