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
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
Proposed Texas Law Would Force Publishers to Create ‘Age Appropriate’ Ratings for School Library Books
“This is a dangerous escalation in the movement to censor public education. In a very short time, those who advocate for school censorship have gone from trying to control… More
PEN America and Amani: Africa Creative Defense Network Condemn “Unjust Sentences” and Flogging of Nigerian TikTok Comedians Over Satirical Video Skits
These comedians have the right to express themselves and their views freely and without fear of harm, and satire is not and should never be treated as a crime,”… More
Infrigement on Academic Freedom, as Dean Threatens to Punish Professor in Georgia Over Parent’s Complaint About Biology Lecture
Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, said in a statement:“Dean Cornely’s response to this controversy is outrageous. Jones is clearly acting within… More
First-of-its-Kind Field Manual in Arabic Supports Journalists and Human Rights Activists Against Online Harassment
“Online abuse is a deliberate attempt to stifle press freedom and creative expression. As an organization of and for writers, PEN America is committed to working with our partners… More
Iran Steps Up Repression of Rights, with Harsh Prison Sentences for Writers and Artists and Reported Torture and Abuse in Custody
“The Iranian government is putting writers’ lives at severe risk through its brazen violation of basic human rights that include systematic abuse and torture in custody, coupled with fast-tracked… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Cynthia Dewi Oka
To question something is to refuse its inevitability; to me that is one way we exercise our humanity in the face of inhumane conditions. More
Universities Must Prioritize Both Campus Safety and Free Speech as Complementary, Not Competing Imperatives
During the past month, two public universities dealt with campus confrontations involving controversial speakers, student protesters, and apparent members of the Proud Boys, an organization heavily implicated in the… More