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New Iran Headscarf Ban Targeting Actresses Must Be Lifted Immediately
PEN America strongly denounces Iran’s recent ban on performing for actresses who have appeared in public without a head cover. More
Citing Grave Free Speech Concerns, PEN America Rejects Florida Campus Ban on Students for Justice in Palestine
Jonathan Friedman, director of Free Expression and Education Programs, issued the following statement: "This policy is part of a pattern from the Florida government, ready to cast aside free speech… More
New PEN America Report: U.S. Prisons Ban Staggering Numbers of Books
“The extent of prison book banning is alarming and an attack on the written word itself.” said Moira Marquis, senior manager of PEN America’s Freewrite Project and lead author… More
Reading Between the Bars
In this report, we seek to shine a light on the staggering realities of prison censorship and challenge its normalization, both legally and culturally. More
PEN America Statement on Canceling of Cultural Events, Amid War
“PEN America objects to the cancellation of book and cultural events, awards and promotions because of viewpoints and narratives that have become contentious in the context of the war… More
PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression The Week of October 16
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. More
Strong Condemnation of Russia’s Detention of Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva
(NEW YORK) - PEN America strongly condemns the detention by the Russian government of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), for failing to register… More
PEN America: What’s at Stake in Book Banning Movement Is ‘Traditions of Freedom and Democracy for Us All’
PEN America's Jonathan Friedman testified that what's at stake in book ban movement is "Whether we can live in a diverse society that upholds our traditions of freedom and… More
These 450 Books Were Banned in Iowa
Schools across Iowa pulled at least 450 books – including the Holocaust memoirs Maus by Art Spiegelman and Night by Elie Wiesel, dozens of classics, and books written for… More
Kimberly Nguyen | Emerging Voices Fellow
I was really interested in the idea that pain and trauma can actually be embedded in the language itself. More