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
Alarm Over South Dakota Elected Leaders’ Attempt to Exert Control Over Student-Sponsored Drag Show
“It is not the place of elected officials to pick and choose what events and whose expression is allowable on campus, meddling in students’ First Amendment rights,” said Jonathan… More
“Deeply Disappointing” That Biden Administration is Shielding Saudi Crown Prince from Accountibility in Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
"After promises of seeking justice for Jamal Khashoggi's murder, it is deeply disappointing to see the Biden Administration take the voluntary step of shielding Mohamed bin Salman from accountability for this egregious… More
Remember This: On Celes Tisdale’s “When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal”
Malcolm Tariq reviews Celes Tisdale's "When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal" (Duke University Press, 2022). More
New Campaign Spotlights the Stories of Imprisoned Cuban Artists
“Dissident artists in Cuba have emerged on the frontlines of the protest movement in the country, using their platforms as creators to challenge the false narratives created by the… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Kristín Ómarsdóttir
I was inspired by our contemporary times and the growing possibility of this world's end. The story is told from some distance, from the future. It tells of events… More
Hate in the Headlines: Journalism & the Challenge of Extremism
Domestic right-wing extremism has evolved from a fringe movement into an antidemocratic force with open support from some elected officials as well as influential conservative media figures. More
New PEN America Report: Journalists Face New Challenges in Grappling with the Blurring Line Between Extremism and Politics
"Journalists and newsrooms are an essential bulwark against the erosion of democracy, and today, U.S. democracy is threatened in part by the increasing prevalence of extremist views in our… More
As the Right Fights the Teaching of Race, A New AP Course Expands It
The history of academic freedom for LGBTQ educators and LGBTQ issues in the curriculum shows us that progress is not linear and that old ploys resurface in new guises. More
PEN America Finds Missouri Schools Banned Nearly 300 Books Since August, in Response to New Law Criminalizing “Explicit Sexual Material”
The letter reminds school district officials that, “Book bans limit opportunities for students to see themselves in literature and to build empathy for experiences different from their own. They… More
Spiegelman, Atwood Among Signers of PEN America Letter Against Missouri Book Bans
Art Spiegelman, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Lois Lowry, Roxane Gay, Rupi Kaur, and Alison Bechdel are among the authors and illustrators who signed a PEN America open letter protesting… More