As PEN America celebrates its 100th year, we are proving every day that each generation must rise to the challenge of defending the cherished rights to write, speak, and express ourselves freely. The threats around us are unprecedented: book bans, authoritarians worldwide targeting authors, even with physical violence, while ideas and history itself are censored in classrooms. You can help PEN America celebrate and defend free expression, and unite the community that cares deeply about it. Show your support by participating in our events, taking action on the local level, and reading the groundbreaking research that drives our mission.
Celebrate
Join Margaret Atwood: Support PEN America This Giving Season
Banning books, punishing teachers, defunding libraries, and harassing librarians are all signs of a curtailment of our liberties. Join Margaret Atwood in supporting PEN America and the freedom to learn.
UNITE
Read PEN America’s Report, “Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing.”
If publishers are the curators of our country’s stories, they have an obligation to ensure that these stories reflect the breadth of our society. Current diversity statistics, alongside the testimony of many publishing and writing professionals of color, point to persistent obstacles and shortcomings in fulfilling this responsibility.
DEFEND
PEN America Needs Your Help to #FreeTheBooks: Sign Your Name to Our Open Letter
In classrooms, school districts, and libraries across the country, the freedom to read is under assault by restrictions and bans on books. Join PEN America and authors Art Spiegelman, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Lois Lowry, Roxane Gay, Rupi Kaur, and Alison Bechdel to #FreeTheBooks.
The Latest
PEN America On 
"Musk, under the auspices of democracy, is legitimizing decisions that will have deeply dangerous consequences in the real world." @freepress @attorneynora told @TaylorLorenz via @washingtonpost https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/24/twitter-musk-reverses-suspensions/
#FreeTheBooks and get #FreeShipping too:
Buy banned books this Cyber Monday with free shipping from our #BannedBooks reading list at @Bookshop_Org: https://bookshop.org/lists/2022-banned-books-week
During the last school year, PEN America found that 1,648 book titles were banned in US schools and libraries. This Giving Tuesday, join @MargaretAtwood and support PEN America's fight against censorship. http://pen.org/givingtuesday2022
Dare to Speak
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel’s book Dare to Speak, providing a pathway for navigating and defending free speech, is on sale!
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?