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Stolen Freedoms: Creative Expression, Historic Resistance, and the Myanmar Coup
This report explores the creative response to the February 1, 2021 coup and the military’s retaliatory crackdown, framing it within Myanmar’s long history of creative expression and protest. More
PEN America Mourns bell hooks Passing
"PEN America mourns the death of bell hooks, an inspirational author, professor, and activist. We are beyond grateful for her work on race, gender, and class, as well as… More
Because Your Liberation is Bound up with Mine: Introducing the 2021 PEN America L’Engle-Rahman Prize for Mentorship Recipients
Teachers & Writers Magazine introduces the winners of the 2021 PEN America L’Engle-Rahman Prize for Mentorship. More
PEN America Announces 2022 Literary Awards Longlists
“This year’s Longlists speak to the extraordinary diversity of the global literary canon, and showcases an incredible wealth of stories and voices from a true cross-section of writers and… More
How to Fight Book Bans: A Tip Sheet for Students
How can students mobilize and respond to book bans? This guide will help you fight back against book bans and build a stronger community of readers and advocates in… More
PEN America Reacts to Pham Doan Trang Conviction
"This sentence represents a heinous violation of Trang’s fundamental rights and of Vietnamese authorities’ commitments under international law,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Free Expression at Risk Programs… More
A Story of Two Brains
“That’s what artists do: We imagine possibilities. . . . But the thing is, sometimes we get it wrong.” More
Attention and Affinities
“As writers, many of us are caught in the middle. Our creative imaginations are not discursive, but organic. We are pulled where the muses and where the fertile blindspots… More
Scope and Speed of Educational Gag Orders Worsening Across the Country
In the month since the release of our report, educational gag orders have grown more sweeping in scope and become law with increasing speed. More
PEN America Denounces the Upcoming Trial and Arbitrary Detention of Journalist and Human Rights Defender Pham Doan Trang
“The international community has made it abundantly clear that the ongoing detention of Pham Doan Trang is unacceptable,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Free Expression at Risk Programs… More