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Call for Release of Six Tibetans, Including 3 Writers, Sentenced to Prison on National Security-Related Charges
A report by Radio Free Asia on Tuesday revealed that the detained writers were sentenced last month on charges of “inciting separatism” and “endangering state security.” Poet and essayist… More
Two Federal Judges Announce Boycotts of Yale Law Grads for Clerkships
Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education programs at PEN America, released the following statement: “The boycott proposed by Judges Ho and Branch is both cruel and… More
Character Development: A National Novel Writing Month Pep Talk
Writer William Myrl Smitherman writes a pep talk for incarcerated writers for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). More
On Pressing the Bounds of What’s Possible: A Conversation with Emile DeWeaver
PEN America Prison and Justice Writing intern Charley Burlock interviews writer Emile DeWeaver. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Seth Wang
I’m not interested in the trauma plot. But I’m very interested in the way people use trauma and identity as an apologia for shitty behavior–especially my favs, cowardice and… More
PEN America Condemns State-Sponsored Execution of Ukrainian Orchestra Conductor for Reportedly Refusing Concert in Russian-Occupied City of Kherson
Ukrainian and international artists and writers were swift in their condemnation of Kerpatenko’s murder: “The history of Russia imposing a ‘comply or die’ policy against artists is nothing new.… More
Today’s Book Bans Echo a Panic Against Comic Books in the 1950s
History shows that when Americans grow panicked about the impact of reading material on children, they often don’t scrutinize specific claims against materials. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Oyedotun Damilola Muees
The people in my story only had themselves to make their community better, just like the people where I served. More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner: Erin Connal
I wanted to explore the slippery space that misbehaving as a group allows us. The story is about a group who does something terrible but the individuals in the… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Fatimah Asghar
It’s important for us to keep making stories that actually have nuanced portrayals of the communities that we come from, and also break the burden of needing our voices… More