PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award
The PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award was given to a U.S. resident who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word. Sponsored by the Katherine Anne Porter Foundation, the award included a cash prize of US$10,000. The award succeeded the PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award.
Winner
2008 Laura Berg, psychiatric nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital who faced an investigation into possible charges of sedition when she wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper which was critical of George W. Bush.