Road Trip!

The PEN World Voices Fest has been announced: this year's theme is "Home & Away" (awesome!) with 162 writers from 45 countries, including Yasmina Khadra, Pico Iyer, and Saadi Youssef (I have to say, I wish they'd invited more women writers to this). Some highlights:

"Town Hall Readings: Writing Home," where Don DeLillo, Nobel Prize-winner Nadine Gordimer, Steve Martin, and Salman Rushdie join other U.S. and international voices to explore the idea of home (Wednesday, April 25)

"An Evening with The Moth," where one of the city's hippest literary series takes on the festival theme through storytelling by authors such as Neil Gaiman and Pico Iyer, with Jonathan Ames as the M.C. (Thursday, April 26)

"A Believer Nighttime Event," featuring a performance by Miranda July and a "Writer Speed Date Session" with four World Voices authors (Saturday, April 28)

"The PEN Cabaret," bringing together musician and poet Patti Smith, playwright Sam Shepard, poet Saul Williams and other special guests at the Bowery Ballroom (Saturday, April 28)

I'll be there.