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.
- In response to the alarming increase in attacks and threats on journalists, PEN America and the Coalition Against Online Violence created a groundbreaking resource that empowers news industry leaders to keep their employees safe online and off. “Newsrooms have a responsibility to protect staff and freelance journalists attacked for their reporting so that they can continue doing their jobs holding the powerful to account,” said Viktorya Vilk, director of Digital Safety and Free Expression and co-lead on the project. View the guide, Practices for News Organizations: How to Protect and Support Journalists Harassed Online, here.
- PEN America joined nearly 300 scholars and writers — including Judith Butler, Fatemeh Shams, and Ervand Abrahamian — to call for the release of four prominent progressive intellectuals arrested in early November as well as other writers unjustly detained in Iran. “The Iranian authorities have a long and troubling history of intimidating and repressing independent academics, writers, and dissenting voices in the country,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Writers at Risk. “These scholars are being targeted for their work and their writing, plain and simple.” Read the full statement here.
- Looking to understand the Trump administration’s “Compact for Higher Education?” Check out PEN America’s explainer, which outlines the threats that the Compact poses to institutional autonomy and free expression on campuses.
- PEN America is turning to authors and editors to learn about the merits of young adult literature with sexual content, a common target for book bans. Read the first interview, in which we speak with Andrew Karre, Executive Editor at Penguin Random House, here.
- PEN America criticized Indiana University for its decision to remove a faculty member from teaching a graduate-level class mid-semester following the intervention of a U.S. Senator. “This is not only an egregious example of censorship, but also of jawboning, when a politician intervenes inappropriately in university policy matters,” said Amy Reid, interim program manager for Freedom to Learn. “The question is: can the U.S. pull back from the censorship of speech and ideas, or have we just decided to do away with freedom of expression?” Read the full statement here.
- PEN America is devastated by the closure of Lectorum Publications, the largest distributor of Spanish-language books in the United States, in part due to cuts to public education funding from the Trump administration. The cuts “are impoverishing our students’ educational opportunities, limiting publishing venues for authors, and directly chilling access to diverse books in schools,” said Kasey Meehan, program director of Freedom to Learn. Read the full statement here. Read the full statement here.
- Inside Higher Ed spoke with Amy Reid, interim program director for Freedom to Learn, about her efforts advocating for academic freedom at New College Florida, where she taught for more than 30 years. Last month, New College’s president denied a recommendation that Reid be granted emerita status because of her advocacy. In response, the New College Alumni Association Board of Directors named her an honorary alum. Read the interview here.
- PEN America condemned the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents’ decision to place limits on faculty members’ ability to teach about race and gender. PEN America previously submitted testimony to the Board of Regents about the revised policy, which prohibits courses on “race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” without prior approval. “Such vague and overbroad warnings are likely to deter faculty from allowing open student discussion of potentially controversial ideas, even when directly relevant to the course material,” writes Amy Reid, interim program director for Freedom to Learn, in the testimony. Read the full statement here, and read the testimony here.
- PEN America labeled President Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC over an editing mistake yet another example of his efforts to punish a free press and chill future scrutiny. “Responsible journalism demands transparency and accountability when errors occur, but no mistake justifies legal coercion by the president of the United States aimed at harming a free press,” said Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director. Read the full statement here.
- In this week’s PEN Ten interview, we spoke to George Packer, whose new novel The Emergency marks his return to fiction after more than 20 years. Packer also spoke on Thursday, November 13 with fellow Atlantic writer Jennifer Senior about the new release at the Brooklyn Public Library. Read the interview here, and stay tuned for coverage of the event.
