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Largo at the Coronet

Many thanks to everyone who attended Largo at the Coronet with David Mamet and Ricky Jay, on May 13, 2010, a memorable evening of "literary vaudeville."

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Algonquin West Hollywood Literary Award Soiree

On Saturday, October 3rd, at 7 pm, the Algonquin West Hollywood Literary Award Soiree will be held at the Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90069. This event will honor the literary achievements of PEN member Aimee Liu and is a benefit for our PEN in the Classroom Program.

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"Tales of Downtown" Salon Series

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The 3rd Annual Festival of California Poets

October 24th & 25th — Los Angeles

Distinguished contemporary California poets will introduce and read poems by canonical California poets, as well as their own poems. Co-sponsored by PEN Center USA, the Poetry Society of America, the Hammer Museum, Pasadena Public Library, the UCLA English Department, and Friends of the UCLA English Department. Admission is free.

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Since 1995, PEN in the Classroom (PITC) has helped thousands of Southern California high school students discover the power of their unique voices by sending professional writers into their classrooms for creative writing residencies. As teacher, poet and PEN member Jamie O’Halloran wrote, “PEN brought a very welcome change of pace that allowed these gifted and ambitious students to use the right side of their brains. The poetic freedom to write gave more than one of these future engineers, attorneys, or surgeons the confidence to say ‘I am a writer!’“

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Vision
PEN Center USA endeavors to create a world in which freedom of expression is guaranteed for all writers, and where friendship and intellectual cooperation thrive among writers and readers worldwide.

Mission
PEN USA’s mission is to stimulate and maintain interest in the written word, to foster a vital literary culture, and to defend freedom of expression domestically and internationally.