PEN America works tirelessly to defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture. Here are some of the latest ways PEN America is speaking out.
- PEN America awarded nearly $350,000 to writers and translators across 10 prize categories at our Literary Awards Ceremony, hosted by comedian Murray Hill. Edwidge Danticat won the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature and American playwright Julia Cho received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award. For his genre-bending work of Indigenous futurism, SURVIVA: A Future Ancestral Field Guide, Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota artist and writer Cannupa Hanska Luger won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. If you missed it, watch the livestream, check out the full list of winners, and take a look at photos from the celebratory evening.
- PEN America announced that award-winning actor, director, and bestselling author B.J. Novak, best known for his role in The Office, will host the organization’s annual Literary Gala on May 14 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. David Remnick and Kwame Anthony Appiah will chair the event, honoring Ann Patchett and Jason Blum. Learn who some of the 50+ literary hosts will be, and check out coverage in the AP and People magazine.
- The Washington Post and the AP quoted Kasey Meehan, director of Freedom to Read, in their stories about Tennessee librarian Luanne James, who was fired for refusing to move LGBTQ+ children’s books to the adult section. Check out the stories here and here.
- PEN America spoke to Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy about his book on affirmative action, which is one of 21 that was permanently removed from shelves at the U.S. Naval Academy last year. “Censorship of the sort that is being practiced at the Naval Academy Library shows a woeful lack of confidence in the Academy’s students and teachers and a baleful disrespect for the nation’s need for a well-educated officer corps,” he told us. Read the full interview.
- PEN America interviewed Nora Neus, journalist and author of 24 Hours at the Capitol, an Oral History of the January 6th Insurrection, about a Virginia bill that attempts to prohibit schools from teaching misinformation about January 6. “We should be teaching our students how to evaluate pieces of information, how to come to their own conclusions, how to identify misinformation, not just legislating specifically on what teachers can say about a given topic.” Read more.
- PEN America warned that a bill awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature would give broad authority to politicians to label organizations, including nonprofits, as “domestic terrorists,” and, due to vague language, could restrict education programs deemed to be “promoting” terrorism. Learn more.
- In a new blog post, Jon Friedman, Sy Syms managing director for U.S. free expression programs, and Jeffrey Adam Sachs, senior analyst, explain why codifying institutional neutrality in law is a recipe for censorship. “The potential for abuse and misapplication is simply too great when laws are vaguely worded and harshly enforced – as they almost always have been for the past four years,” they write. Read more.
- The Free Narges Coalition expressed grave concern for the health of Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was denied medical care following a reported heart attack in an Iranian prison. “Narges Mohammadi’s life is in imminent danger, and we call on Iranian authorities to heed our warning and provide the medical care that she urgently needs, by granting her an immediate medical furlough,” The Free Narges Coalition Steering Committee said. Read more.
- PEN America and other press freedom groups denounced Russia’s designation of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) as an “undesirable” organization, calling it “a flagrant act of retaliation against those who defend press freedom and support independent voices.” See the full statement.
- PEN America condemned the arrest of 2011 Freedom To Write Awardee and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been harassed by Iranian authorities for decades for her free expression. Read the statement.
- Erika Nguyen, senior manager for the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center, wrote an op-ed for Tech Policy Press urging technology companies to end their complicity in the online repression of Mongolian culture. “Now more than ever, tech companies should be creating online environments where people can communicate safely and securely, and philanthropic funders and governments should be investing in internet freedom,” she argues. Check it out here.
