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On Beauty: Banning Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
The narrative that Pecola absorbs from the world around her is simple. It tells her that to be beautiful is to be white. It shapes her identity at the… More
Future Fiction of America
In the spirit of celebrating the honorees for this year’s PEN Literary Awards on September 29th, we’re holding a contest for best book title. More
Student Languishes in Detention for Facebook Post in Nigeria
PEN Nigeria responds to the detention of a Nigerian student for over 20 days for Facebook posts criticizing a state governor. More
Bird Brains
What’s in it for ESPN to support this book? Why would the network that stages the rough equivalent of a Harry Potter movie every week let us dig into… More
domina Un/blued
The body took paths through waste-land woods / followed her back to the apartment / Her body / hid from its parents / Forgot its sisters / Bathed /… More
National Coalition Against Censorship Announces Winners of Cameron Post Essay Contest
The contest, co-sponsored by PEN and other free expression groups, invited high school students in Delaware to write a 250-500 word essay saying what they felt school board members… More
In Search of Salvation
He stood about six feet but weighed, at most, 110 pounds. His face was so emaciated that you could see nearly every bone. The few remaining teeth he had… More
140 Characters Make You A Terrorist
Saudi Arabia remains one of few countries untouched by the wave of democratic uproar that swept through the Middle East. The reason? According to one Saudi journalist, who chooses… More
The Literary Gamut: Sci-fi, Surveillance, Michael J. Fox, and Parties
Since last week's sold-out launch of our 2014 Public Programming, it's been go, go, go for the intrepid PEN community. All leading up to a celebration of the Ninth… More
The Prince of Finesse: Hugging the Shore
If it please the court, I ask that it be stricken from the record that I ever mocked/denigrated John Updike for his devotion to Doris Day, which I have… More