Rushdie's been named President of PEN America. From 'A Declaration of Independence', which he wrote in 1994 for the International Parliament of Writers: "Today, around the world, literature continues to confront tyranny--not polemically, but by denying its authority, by going its own way, by declaring its independence. The best of that literature will survive; but we cannot wait for the future to release it from the censor's chains. Many persecuted authors will also, somehow, survive; but we cannot wait silently for their persecutions to end." Good luck to the man.

Philip Pullman has two unlikely admirers--Michael Chabon and Archbishop Rowan Williams. The Babu's thinking this could be a grand way to yank fantasy and sci-fi onto the list of respectable A-list reading: line up your authors by the door--Banks, Gibson, Terry Brooks--and have them sanctified as canon-worthy by a person of the cloth and a big league literary star. Us sword-and-sorcery barbarians will stroll through those gates yet. (While we're on the subject, bless you, Maud--I'm stealing your links again.)