As our foreign- born authors in episode 5 struggle with the idea that they may have to take on the burden of becoming the official representatives of their countries -- and their culture, The US has launched a campaign to encourage reading of American literature -- here in the US and abroad.

As Lindesay Irvine reports in TheGuardian.com, "The Big Read Egypt/US will involve reciprocal promotions of three celebrated American writers in Egypt, and just the one Egyptian writer in the States. Naguib Mahfouz's The Thief and the Dogs will be America's reading book, while Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath will be the focus of reading groups and other events in Cairo and Alexandria."

If you're interested we are adding David Kipen's blog -- the NEA's director of literature -- in our blogroll.