The PEN World Voices Festival kicked off with a panel about women and fiction in translation that addressed big, messy topics... that are impossible to put to rest.

Short story writer and novelist Nathan Englander dissected his writing and research methodology.

The two-time Booker Prize-winning Australian author Peter Carey discussed writing with an American perspective.

Fried chicken, okra, biscuits, sweet tea and pecan pie — it's enough to make any food lover dream of lazy summer days in the South. Happily, Southern food has found a home in the North, where it has grown in popularity in the past three years. The Museum of the City of New York held an event to discuss the social history of "the great migration" of food from the South. In partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance and Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism, the museum invited Jessica B. Harris, Ted Lee, and John T. Edge to discuss how Southern food has influenced what and how we eat in New York City.

Provocative author A.M. Homes says she has book-envy....but only of male authors.

Louise Erdrich is a novelist, poet, bookstore owner and one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People (1990). She's been a leading voice for Native American literature throughout her writing career.

In early April, the Cornelia Street Café hosted its monthly Liar Show.  The premise is simple: Out of four storytellers, one is a liar, and it’s up to the audience to spot the fake. The four storytellers were Leslie Goshko, Robert Hurst, Joanne Soloman and Emily Epstein.

In a rare, themeless installment of The Happy Ending Music & Reading Series at Joe's Pub, writers Adam Haslett, Sam Lipsyte and Zoe Heller did something "risky" on stage while Julliard-trained violinist and singer-songwriter Christina Courtin performed.

“Most of literature is about love, if it’s not about war,” declared writer André Aciman. He spoke with New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc about the meaning of literature during a recent "Live from the NYPL" event. The author explained that "literature is always interested in asking questions that are very difficult and refuses to give easy answers." Aciman also discussed his provocative new book, Eight White Nights, which is a chronicle of a short affair between two hip New Yorkers.

On April 8, leading Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan addressed a packed hall at The Cooper Union, in his first appearance in the U.S. since the Bush Administration revoked his visa six years ago. Ramadan answered questions on homosexuality, religion, and the role of women in Islamic societies. He was on the defensive when New Yorker writer George Packer accused him of "whitewashing" history. And he used the platform to call for humility and respect among Muslims in the West and in Europe.