November 6th, 2011
Former poet laureate Robert Pinsky received a lifetime achievement award from the PEN writers group in California.
Pinsky said the $1,000 award is special because of PEN’s dual role as a literary and human rights organization. “Its mission includes work for freedom of expression and efforts on behalf of imprisoned or threatened writers around the world,” Pinksy said. “That’s a particularly gratifying and, in a way, humbling aspect of this award.”