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 announced plans to establish the U.S. Author Safety Program to help writers facing threats and abuse for their books, advocacy, and identities. Building on years of the organization’s work opposing book bans and supporting journalists under attack, the program will offer trainings, consultations, resources, and peer support to authors. “Writers should not be forced to choose between their safety and their voice,” said co-CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf. “Every writer silenced by intimidation is a loss for readers and for our democracy.” Read more, and check out coverage in The Associated Press.
- At our 62nd annual Literary Awards Ceremony, Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat took a moment to speak with us about winning a career achievement award, the courage required to be a writer today, and her hopes for the future of free expression. “In the climate right now, there’s so much fear, and it’s purposeful fear,” she said. “But I think courage, as many people have said, is not the absence of fear. It’s trying to do what we can and in the presence of fear.” Read the full interview.
- More than 200 groups, including PEN America, issued a joint statement expressing deep alarm over President Donald Trump’s April 7 warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” They called for adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and cultural heritage. See the letter.
- The Associated Press quoted William Johnson, Florida director, condemning a new Florida law that gives politicians broad authority to label organizations, including nonprofits, as “domestic terrorists” and expel university students who support them. It “could chill education at every level,” he said. Here’s the story.
- PEN America condemned two court rulings that vacated a preliminary injunction against Iowa’s book banning statute and held that schools or state legislatures “can categorically prohibit sexual content or profanity in school libraries without running afoul of the First Amendment.” Elly Brinkley, staff attorney for U.S. Free Expression Programs, warned that they will “deprive students of the opportunity to learn and prevent them from receiving necessary information.” Learn more.
- A banned children’s book author fled the United States for Uruguay — only for far-right American parents to have her fired from her teaching job after a week. Read our new blog post about her story.
- PEN America urged Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to veto a bill that attempts to bar public K-12 schools from teaching misinformation about the events of January 6, 2021. “Regardless of legislators’ intentions, codifying content-based restrictions in law subjects teachers to intense scrutiny,” the letter states. Read it in full.
- PEN America called for the immediate and unconditional release of Egyptian poet Ahmed Douma after he was detained for peaceful activism and free expression. Douma has already faced a decade in prison, at least five separate investigations, and an ongoing travel ban. Read more.
- PEN America raised alarm about provisions to Kansas’ budget bill that limit instruction related to race and gender. Amy Reid, program director for Freedom to Learn, called it “proof of the dangerous normalization of educational censorship.” Read the full statement, and check out coverage in Higher Ed Dive.
