A Literary Festival for a Xenomaniac

...or perhaps a peripatetic polymath. In spite of the rumor circulating that budget cuts forced PEN USA to cull their list of invited authors by 20 at the last minute, the roster of writers at the 5th annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature looks downright amazing. From novelists to graphic novelists to novel ideas about the economic crisis, this Festival has a lot of everything for everyone. Of course, it doesn’t come for free – be prepared to drop a $100 or more on tickets – but it offers some fairly rare gets on this side of the Atlantic. The promise: Sixty events. Six days. 160 writers, of which approximately 100 are from overseas (or claim to be, despite a number who spend much of the year in Brooklyn).