The StoryCorps project invites people from all over the country to share and preserve stories from their lives. The organization, based in Brooklyn, has recorded more than 30,000 personal tales in the past six years. Many of the stories are about moms and motherhood.

Recently, StoryCorps founder and award-winning public radio producer David Isay presented some of these stories at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. The event marked the release of the new book, Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps.

Stream and download the talk here for free.

PEN's World Voices Festival brought Russian poet Inga Kuznetsova, Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, Polish writer Andrzej Stasiuk and New York's own Jonathan Lethem together for a conversation about utopia and dystopia. The event was moderated by Albert Mobilio.

The packed house at BAM's Harvey Theater was probably eager to have a look at the protean actor whose dulcet malevolence has brought many nasty characters to life, including Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard. But Alan Rickman was just as wily and entertaining as the director of Strindberg’s “relentless” (his words) marriage a trois, in a conversation with the New York Public Library’s Paul Holdengraber.

The Diary of Anne Frank continues to impact everyone—from grade-school students to scholars and artists. Three writers and experts on Anne Frank discussed the young girl's influential work at the PEN World Voices Festival. Francine Prose, Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson spoke about the diary, how to write about Frank, as well as Holocaust deniers and censorship.

Prose is the author of Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife. Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson recently finished a graphic novel of the Anne Frank story and are the creators of The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation.

The panel was moderated by Judith Thurman of The New Yorker.

Authors Shirley Hazzard and Richard Ford had a tête-à-tête about writing, poetry and much more at the 92nd Street Y for the PEN World Voice Festival. The chemistry between the two writers made for a lively discussion, and the pair elicted much laughter from the audience. In particular, Ford interviewed Hazzard about The Transit of Venus and The Great Fire.

Annabel Davis-Goff read from "Harold," Hazzard's first story, which written when she was 20 years old and published in The New Yorker.

This year's Clifton Fadiman Medal was presented to Jamaica Kincaid for her coming of age novel Annie John. The award, established by the Center for Fiction in 2000, recognizes a book worthy of "rediscovery and wider readership." Novelist Jane Smiley served as the 2010 judge and presenter of the award. Kincaid received the medal at a ceremony held at the Center for Fiction and the organization's director, Noreen Tomassi, spoke about the award and introduced the two novelists.

Quiet, please! While waiting for an event with George Prochnik, the crowd at the New York Public Library’s Celeste Bartos Forum was assailed by a barrage of sound—car horns, church bells, tape hiss—all examples of the noisy world the author says has overwhelmed us. Prochnik advocates a kind of sonic environmentalism, the creating and preserving silent places. He spoke about his new book, In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise, with the NYPL’s Paul Holdengraber.

The Story Prize is an annual book award that recognizes outstanding short fiction. The authors are judged for their collections of short stories, and the winner of the prize receives $20,000. Two other finalists also receive $5,000 awards. This year’s Story Prize went to author Daniyal Mueenuddin. The Pakistani-American writer and the two other finalists read from their works at the awards ceremony held at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium.

The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature brought writers from all over the world to New York City this week. In a fitting move, the annual event included New York Stories, a panel on how the Big Apple inspires the written word. On Thursday night, authors, urbanites and intellectuals crowded into the auditorium at the Morgan Museum to hear how New York City shaped the work of Henry James, Edith Wharton and Elizabeth Hardwick.

Peter Hessler, a former Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, spent years in China before he decided to get a driver’s license. Then, license in hand, Hessler planned a road trip that followed the Great Wall. His new book, Country Driving: a Journey through China from Farm to Factory, is a memoir about his extended trip.