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War on a Lunchbreak
Not that I ever lay hiding // dying in a ditch, but if I had, I think that I’d / know much about dry grass, the incredible value of… More
Steve Champion, PEN Prison Writing Award Winner, Hunger Strikes in San Quentin
Steve Champion, a prize-winning writer in the PEN Prison Writing contest, has been on hunger strike in the Adjustment Center (solitary confinement) of San Quentin's death row since October… More
Bleak Housing & Black Americans
The United States seems not merely to tolerate but actually to revel in inflicting barbaric human degradation upon prisoners—not just for months or years, but for decades and lifetimes... More
Siddharta’s Loop
I been goin’ to the Jersey shore since I was a kid and ain’t never seen a condom or syringe wash upon the sand. More
Move the Back of Your Heart Towards the Front of Your Heart
Let me show you pictures of the man / I was when I was // Other than the man / I am right now More
Win Two Tickets to PEN’s Stand Up for Freedom event at Galapagos
What’s so funny about freedom of expression? Tweet #penstandup to fill us in on the funny side of the First Amendment. Win two tickets to PEN’s September 19th Stand… More
Barnes & Noble PEN Writers’ Emergency Fund Bookfair
On Wednesday, September 19, a percentage of your purchase made at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble or at BN.com at anytime will support the PEN Writers’ Emergency… More
PEN Poets at Lit Crawl NYC: September 15
Next Saturday, September 15, PEN America will host three amazing poets for Lit Crawl NYC. Join us in the outdoor patio of Bantam, on the Lower East Side, for a… More
Banned Books Month is Coming!
September is all about banned books here at PEN American. We reached out to writers, editors, literary illuminati, and PEN staff to write about the banned books that matter… More