The speaker whom I enjoyed the most was Nadeem ASlam, the Pakistani writer. He came from a tumultuous background and I admire that he chose literature to voice his concerns  and to advocate. he addressed the issue regarding the prejudices and discrimination against the Muslim with such fervor. He also denounced the US government for thE assassination of a journalist/ reporter and his wife.

I enjoyed listening to the speakers so much. Even though, the speakers had an accent but I was able to understand them very well because I have a passion of watching movies in different language. The Japanese author who I thought couldn’t speak a word of English, I was surprise o hear when he spoke English even though his English was very limited but I liked it that he made an effort to speak in English. Nadeem Aslam, who talked about the politics in Pakistan to London to get away from it all. I Pakistan if you take any kind of action towards the government or any digging around or even talk about what the government don’t wan you to talk about, that person would get killed. I liked it when he talked about the word “Jihad” to us, we only know that word as one meaning, “terrorism group”, I, myself thought that everyone else I know knows that but when he explained that word to us, it reminded me how one word can have more than one meaning. I liked it that he has so much courage to talk about these issues that can reflect on other people lives.

The Scottish writer, I liked it how energized he was even though he used profanity while talking but that’s how he let his emotions out. I personally liked it a lot because he was speaking freely and a lot of writers wouldn’t speak the way he did.

The writer from Guatemala that was interesting too even though I haven’t lost Hindi completely but I was able to relate to him in some sense because even though I can speak Hindi, read Hindi to some extent but I have lost the writing structure completely and each day I realize that my vocabulary in Hindi is very low than my sisters, I came to America at very young age than my sisters.

After having attended the Pen World voices panel, it was interesting to hear what inspires different writers to write what they do. After hearing such a wide cultural group of established authors all speak at the same time I felt very privileged
to be able to attend.  All of the writers that were there seemed to be very passionate about their work and everything that they spoke about. The writer that I was most able to relate to was Eduardo Halfon of Guatemala. I also lost a good portion of my secondary language skills at a young age, and I still regret it. His writing style was also extremely unique in a sense that you sort of how to peel back layers of it. Lastly the Scottish writer, I found like mostly everyone there to be extremely funny. He was very blunt, but also humorous and intelligent.

The Pen World Voices event was something I would never have thought of attending myself, but after hearing each author speak, I was more than glad to have had the opportunity.  I never gave thought to what inspired a writer, in part because I have yet to have to have something in my life that completely inspires me to pursue it.  In the back of my mind, I know I want to write, but as for having the motivation to do so, that’s a completely different story.  Seeing that most of their inspirations came from reading a certain book, I am inclined to start reading more in my spare time. Perhaps something will just click.

All of the writers were very delightful in their accounts but the one author that stood out to me was Nadeem Aslam.  It could have been his youthful appearance that captured my attention, but at the heart of it was his passion.  His voice had a hint of nervousness, coupled with an intensity that expressed his willingness to make an impact on those he was speaking to.  He said that when he read Bruno Shchulz’ “Street of Crocodiles” that his heart started to beat faster as if he was holding precious jewels.  I have never heard someone describe reading a book in such a grand and meaningful way.  It seems this novel sparked a fire within him, or ignited a driving force, that allowed him to do amazing things, that I would never do, such as rewriting “Moby Dick” just to learn how many thoughts can go in a paragraph and how many images can be on a full page, and rewriting a handful of other novels just to become a great writer. I was, and am still, in awe of his persistence and hard work.

Another part of his speech that really left a mark was the political aspect of it, and how he views politics as being a vital component of literature.  His affinity for the physical world transformed by the use of words is something that any person with a love of literature can understand.  There was a moment when he spoke about Jihad, when tears literally started to stream down my face.  He said that Jihad has a number of meanings to those who know the language; it has as many meanings as a rose has petals; to smile at someone when you don’t feel like smiling at them is Jihad, to be kind to someone when your own life is full of meanness, that is Jihad.  But the only meaning of Jihad I have seen or heard is religious warfare.  I was completely amazed, touched, and in awe of how powerful words can be, and what they can do when used in a certain way.  I really just enjoyed all that he had to say.