When PEN American Center hosts its annual gala on May 5, six of its planned author hosts will not be in attendance. On Friday, novelists Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi alerted the organization of their withdrawal from the gala over the decision to award its Freedom of Expression Courage award to the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which saw 12 staffers killed in the January 7 attack on its offices. Prose told the AP she was “quite upset” at the Hebdo honor, adding: “I couldn’t imagine being in the audience when they […]
