Carlisle, with his wife Olga Andreyeva Carlisle, was notable for translating Alexander Solzhenitsyn's work into English. Although Solzhenitsyn criticized the translations, Olga Carlisle felt they helped bring his work to a wider audience, and contributed to Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Prize.[1]
Carlisle was president of PEN American Center (elected 1976), and actively supported writers facing censorship.[1]