{"id":14533,"date":"2015-04-29T10:05:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T14:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/news\/article.php?ArticleID=14533"},"modified":"2015-04-29T10:05:12","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T14:05:12","slug":"14533_montclair-state-and-pen-present-guant-namo-diary-a-reading-and-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/2015\/04\/29\/14533_montclair-state-and-pen-present-guant-namo-diary-a-reading-and-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Montclair State and PEN Present \u201cGuant\u00e1namo Diary: A Reading and Conversation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Literary luminaries, legal experts, and arts and media leaders came together at Montclair State University\u2019s Alexander Kasser Theater on the evening of April 27 for \u201cGuant\u00e1namo Diary: A Reading and Conversation.\u201d Presented by the University\u2019s School of Communication and Media and PEN American Center, the event was an encore presentation of a sold-out New York City event presented by PEN last February that garnered national and international press coverage.
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Using Mohamedou Ould Slahi\u2019s book Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> as a starting point, \u201cGuant\u00e1namo Diary\u201d explored issues of national security, prison life, free expression and the legacy of 9\/11. <\/span>The first and only diary by a still-imprisoned Guant\u00e1namo detainee, Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> is a compelling first-hand account of imprisonment, torture and day-to-day interactions in the infamous detention camp. <\/span><\/p>\n

Readers included actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, New Yorker<\/em> staff writer DT Max, short story writer Deborah Eisenberg and novelists Emily St. John Mandel, Joshua Ferris, Francine Prose and Elissa Schappell. Leonard Lopate, host of WNYC\u2019s daily talk show, The Leonard Lopate Show<\/em>, moderated a panel discussion with criminal defense attorney Nancy Hollander, and former <\/span>PEN Freedom to Write director and Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> editor Larry Siems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years into his captivity at Guant\u00e1namo, Slahi began writing a diary that recounts both his life before he was seized by the United States and his experiences as a detainee. Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> is not only a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir that is at once terrifying, humorous and gracious. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the context of the continuing debate about both terrorism and the future of Guant\u00e1namo, we were proud to partner with PEN on this provocative event,\u201d said School of Communication and Media Director Merrill Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore than thirteen years on, it is easy to forget that 122 men remain in detention at Guant\u00e1namo, with little prospect of justice or freedom,\u201d said PEN Executive Director Suzanne Nossel. \u201cGuant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> makes the riveting story of one detainee come alive. We\u2019re thrilled to bring it to audiences as engaged and informed as the people of Montclair.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Slahi\u2019s lawyers fought for seven years to have the historically significant manuscript declassified and cleared for public release. Published by Little, Brown and Company, Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/em> was released worldwide in January 2015, and has since formed the basis of an ongoing international campaign to free Slahi.<\/span><\/p>\n

The evening concluded with a reception at which members of the audience met and mingled with the event participants and fellow audience members.<\/span><\/p>\n

View the Photo Gallery<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Literary luminaries, legal experts, and arts and media leaders came together at Montclair State University\u2019s Alexander Kasser Theater on the evening of April 27 for \u201cGuant\u00e1namo Diary: A Reading and Conversation.\u201d Presented by the University\u2019s School of Communication and Media and PEN American Center, the event was an encore presentation of a sold-out New York […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":114533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-communication-and-media-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}