The annual PEN America Literary Gala is a highlight of the New York literary and social calendars, with hundreds of guests and an exceptional group of leading writers who sit among them as Literary Hosts.
This year’s celebration took place Monday, May 23, at the American Museum of Natural History. The evening begins with an elegant cocktail reception, followed by dinner “under the whale” in the Museum’s Hall of Ocean Life. You can watch the full program below, browse photos, and read remarks from our honorees and featured guests.
The proceeds from this dinner are crucial to PEN America’s dynamic cultural programming and critical advocacy work on behalf of free expression. For more information on the PEN America Literary Gala, please contact the special events team at [email protected].
Photo Highlights
“The exercise of speech that matters to us most, that must matter to us most, that speech which articulates our needs, our understanding, our competing senses of reality itself, this speech which shapes our lives in co-operation with one another, however tensely, this is what democracy is built on. This is what democracy means.”
Zadie Smith, PEN/Audible’s Literary Service Honoree
Smith is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has twice been listed as one of Granta’s 20 Best Young British Novelists.
Jack Petocz, PEN/Benenson Courage Award
Petocz is a junior at Flagler Palm Coast High School and a a political strategist at Gen-Z For Change, working on the midterm elections for the progressive non-profit.
Vladyslav Yesypenko, PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award Honoree
Yesypenko is a Ukrainian freelance journalist whose work covers social issues affecting residents of Crimea and the profound impacts of Russian occupation on the lives of Crimean Tatars.
Don Katz, Business Visionary Honoree
Don Katz is the founder and executive chairman of Audible, Inc., the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling.
2022 Presenters
 Asia Kate Dillon, actor |  Michael Douglas, actor and producer |  Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) |  Ruth Negga, actor |
Host
Faith Salie
Award-winning journalist, writer, and actress
2022 Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
Penguin Random House
Award Underwriters
Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust
Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson
Leadership
Barnes & Noble
Willow Bay and Robert A. Iger
Roxanne Donovan and Tom Scarangello
Dasha Epstein
Patricia Fili-Krushel and Kenneth Krushel
Hearst
Elizabeth Hemmerdinger and Alix L.L. Ritchie
Margaret Munzer Loeb
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Anya and Albert Salama
Ann and Richard Sarnoff Family Foundation
Andrew Solomon and John Habich Solomon
Jamie Wolf
Benefactor
Amazon Literary Partnership
Amazon Studios
Anonymous
Arnold & Porter
The Atlantic
Amanda Bennett
Colette and Daniel Bennett
Nisha Kumar Behringer and Michael P. Behringer
Bloomberg
Book of the Month
Bridget Colman
Discovery, Inc.
Karin and Markus Dohle
Patricia Duff and Richard D. Cohen
FoundRae
Fresh Produce Media
Sarah, Sheree, and Jerry Friedman
Ashley Garrett and Alan Jones
The Marc Haas Foundation
Hachette Book Group
HarperCollins
Tom Healy and Fred P. Hochberg
Tracy Higgins and James Leitner
Zachary Karabell
Mary and Sean Kelly & Family
Sandra Leong
Macmillan Publishers
Anne and Jay McInerney
Annette L. Nazareth and Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
Open Society Foundations
Zibby and Kyle Owens
The Holly Peterson Foundation
Recorded Books, Inc.
Aidan Donnelley Rowley
Seedlings Foundation
Selendy Gay Elsberg
Ting Tsung & Wei Fong Chao Foundation
Suzy and Sadek Wahba
Tali Farhadian Weinstein and Boaz Weinstein
Patron
Books-A-Million
Hudson, a Dufry Company
Margery Mayer
The New Yorker
Other Press
ReaderLink
Simon and Schuster, Inc.
Mila Atmos Tuttle
Warner Bros. Discovery
Friends
Joanne Leedom Ackerman
Hilaria and Alec Baldwin Foundation
Bertelsmann Printing Group
Blackstone Publishing
The Coleman Foundation
Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
First Republic Bank
Agnes Gund
The New York Times
Pottermore Publishing
Victoria Sanders & Associates
Scholastic
Skybound
James Thackara
Martha Wallau
Fred Wistow
Wondrium
Gala Committee Co-Chairs
Colette Bennett
Markus Dohle
Sean Kelly
Anya Salama
Richard Sarnoff
Gala Committee Members
Pamela and Peter Barbey
Nisha Kumar Behringer
Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson
Jennifer Finney Boylan
Beth Bugdaycay
John Chao
Bridget Colman
Roxanne Donovan
Patricia Duff
Patricia Fili-Krushel
Sheree and Jerry Friedman
Ashley Garrett and Alan Jones
Tom Healy and Fred P. Hochberg
Elizabeth Hemmerdinger and Alix L.L. Ritchie
Tracy Higgins
Zachary Karabell
Margaret Munzer Loeb
Yvonne Marsh
Jay McInerney
Holly Peterson
Michael Pietsch
Aidan Donnelley Rowley
Andrew Solomon
Jamie Wolf
Tali Farhadian Weinstein and Boaz Weinstein
Support PEN America
Our PEN America Literary Gala provides the essential resources we need to defend the freedom to write worldwide. Please consider making a donation in support of this vital work. Thank you.