PEN America works tirelessly to defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture. Here are some of the latest ways PEN America is speaking out.

  • PEN America criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for exploiting concerns over antisemitism to enforce education censorship. The administration has mandated that the state university system use a keyword search to flag syllabi for instances of antisemitism and report them to the Board of Governors by Aug. 16. “There have been legitimate concerns with racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate, homophobia, and a whole host of bigotries on campuses,” said Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America Florida. “This is not a serious solution and it will do little to help.” 
  • PEN America expressed concern after Iranian military forces and prison guards at Iran’s Evin prison attacked 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi and other imprisoned women. According to her cellmates, Mohammadi was repeatedly punched in the chest by security and military forces and collapsed due to the pain. 
  • PEN America said it was dismayed that a federal appeals court lifted a temporary injunction against the enforcement of the SF 496 law in Iowa, which the free expression organization has termed “a perfect recipe for censorship.” The law has already led to the removal of more than 3,000 books from public schools in Iowa.  “Now that it is set to take effect again, we are deeply concerned that Iowa students will return to schools full of empty shelves,” said Jonathan Friedman, Sy Sims director of US Free Expression programs at PEN America.
  • As a part of its 2024 Disinformation Resilience Training Series, PEN America held a virtual information session about the importance of fact-checking. 
  • PEN America has spent brat summer reading. If you have too, you can buy our new shirt here. 

See previous PEN America updates