Neil Gaiman and cartoonists Art Spiegelman and Alison Bechdel step in as PEN table hosts

The PEN American Center/Charlie Hebdo dilemma continues, as PEN recruits new writers to take the places of the table hosts who dropped out last month (including Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner, and Peter Carey). The literary organization has found some big-name replacements, The New York Times reports: Neil Gaiman, and cartoonists Art Spiegelman and Alison Bechdel have agreed to take up the mantle as table hosts. Other new hosts include George Packer, Azar Nafisi, and Alain Mabanckou, a French-Congolese novelist, who will present Charlie Hebdo with the Freedom of Expression Courage Award.