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 announced that its 2026 Literary Gala will honor bestselling novelist and essayist Ann Patchett and Oscar-nominated film producer Jason Blum. The gala, hosted on May 16, will bring together renowned writers, journalists, publishers, and editors to support PEN America’s global literary and arts programming and free expression advocacy. Read more about the gala here, and check out coverage of it in the AP here.
- PEN America announced its 2026 literary grant winners for works in progress. Read about the winning entries here.
- PEN America published a piece from a writer in Gaza, Ibtisam Mahdi, about the essential role women play in documenting and rebuilding from devastation. Read the piece here, and read our earlier piece by Akram Al-Sourani here.
- PEN America threw its support behind a lawsuit filed by The New York Times that argues the Pentagon’s new reporting rules violate journalists’ constitutional rights. “No government agency, let alone the Department of Defense, should be permitted to manipulate reporting by deciding which journalists get to ask questions and which are removed from the building because they are not sufficiently fawning,” said Tim Richardson, program director for Journalism and Disinformation. Read the full statement here.
- PEN America released a new reading list to commemorate World AIDS Day, which the government will not recognize for the first year since 1988. View the list here.
- PEN America spoke to critically acclaimed author Elana K. Arnold about how and why she incorporates sexual content into her young adult books, which are an all too common target for bans. Read the interview here.
- PEN America criticized Weber State University for overcomplying with a 2024 Utah state law by sending speakers a list of prohibited words and concepts in advance of their visits. Author Darcie Little Badger canceled her appearance after receiving the list, which includes the terms “bias,” “oppression,” and “racial privilege.” “This is blatant censorship, and a tremendous loss to both the author and the community,” said Kristen Shahverdian, program director for Campus Free Speech. Read the full statement here.
- In a new blog post, William Johnson, director of PEN America’s Florida office, explains why the Florida Department of Education’s book bans numbers are an undercount. Read the blog here.
- PEN America mourned the playwright Tom Stoppard, a tenacious defender of free expression and the winner of the 2020 PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award and the 2015 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award. “The world of contemporary theater will forever bear his mark,” PEN America said. Read the full statement here.
- To launch its groundbreaking online safety guide for newsrooms, PEN America gathered five industry leaders together to discuss best practices. Check out the guide here, and read about the event here.
- PEN America spoke to Nicole Manning, an alum of multiple PEN America advocacy institutes, about the necessity of having infrastructure for free expression on college campuses. Read more here, and check out more Conversations on the Quad here.
- University World News quoted Jon Freidman, Sy Syms Managing Director for U.S. Free Expression Programs, in an article about the transfer of 12 international scholarship programs from the Department of Education to the Department of State. Friedman called the change “part of the administration’s broader playbook of trying to impose total ideological control over academia, threatening funding to force compliance.” Read the full article here.
- Dizzied by all of the “best of 2025” book lists? PEN America compiled a list of titles repeated across 15 of the top lists. Check it out here.
- PEN America also compiled a list of children’s book titles mentioned on multiple “best of” lists. Take a look at it here.
