Blog
Filter By:
Advocacy • Analysis • Blog • Commentary • Drama • Essay • Event • Feature • Fiction • Graphic Narrative • Interview • Memoir • News • Obituary • Open Letter • Poetry • Press Release • Profile
Browse By Series:
PEN Poetry Series • Prison Writing • The PEN Ten Interviews • Illustrated PEN • Pen Pals • The PEN World
Browse By Email Subscription:
PEN America News • Educational Censorship News • Works of Justice
The PEN Ten with Rigoberto González
Observation is posing interesting questions. Surveillance is getting specific answers. Only one of those is meant to be used against the private citizen. The line, then, depends entirely on… More
A Culture of Surveillance
The harms that surveillance brings are not limited to the moment—they ripple out in time and space. College students are silenced so their communities lose a generation of outspoken… More
Recommended Reading: Picture Book Writing
School's out! And the kids are sure to love coming home to these stories. These picture books are entertaining and educational for every age. Our Judges Mac Barnett, Ted… More
China: Tiananmen Square 25 Years on
"Not only is the tragedy itself a suppressed piece of history in China, but many of those who protested twenty-five years ago are still being imprisoned, harassed and silenced." More
Obama Administration: Drop Efforts to Force James Risen Testimony
If James Risen is forced to testify, whistleblowers with information about government wrongdoing may be more reluctant to talk to the press, knowing they will have no protection if… More
PEN Myanmar Opens New Office: A New Beacon of Literature and Free Expression
PEN Myanmar celebrated the opening of its new office on Friday in Yangon, capping off a multiyear struggle to establish a functioning center. More
Recommended Reading: Celebrated Translations
Crossing literary borders, these ten translations bring us works from all around the world, including Argentina, Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. Award judges Ann Goldstein, Becka McKay, and Katherine Silver… More
Editor Raif Badawi Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison and 1,000 Lashes
A Saudi Arabian court sentenced website editor Raif Badawi to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals (approx. US$266,631) on charges… More
Recommended Reading: Art of Biography
Our judges James Atlas, Lisa Cohen, and Wendy Gimbel have chosen eight titles for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for a distinguished biography published in 2013. Get lost in… More