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 held its summer 2024 Free Expression Advocacy Institute in Los Angeles, educating high school students about theories, law, histories, and methodologies behind free expression advocacy. The programming included presentations by experts on legal and policy matters, interactive workshops, and facilitated discussion sessions that allowed students to dive deep into these issues.
- PEN America hosted its Emerging Voices Workshop in Los Angeles, an in-person craft intensive that provides 15 writers the opportunity to develop a manuscript-in-progress with peers and expert instructors, culminating in a celebratory public reading of works-in-progress.
- PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel was interviewed on the Battles We Pick podcast with David Shorr about schools, libraries, and efforts to ban books as a key battlefront in the struggle to preserve freedom.
- In a new blog post, Jeffrey Sachs and Jeremy C. Young break down jawboning, a chilling censorship tactic that happens behind closed doors. “Over the last year, public officials have aggressively (but often covertly) bullied university leaders into censoring faculty, shuttering university programs and offices, and firing unpopular employees,” they explain. “This sort of behavior rarely receives the public attention that comes with a new law or executive order, but it is no less damaging, and it can be even more difficult to combat.”
- The Free Narges Coalition condemned an Iranian revolutionary court for sentencing 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi to an additional year of prison on charges of “propaganda activities against the state.” PEN America recently joined with Reporters Without Borders, Front Line Defenders, and the Narges Mohammadi Foundation to form the coalition.
- In a CityLimits op-ed, Sy Syms Managing Director of U.S. Free Expression Programs Jonathan Friedman urged against proposed budget cuts to New York’s libraries, which would lead to reductions in staff, weekend service, library materials, building renovations, and programming.
- PEN America called for India to drop the case against writer Arundhati Roy for comments she made about Kashmir in 2010. “This case demonstrates all too clearly how protracted legal harassment, now coupled with the threat of charges under the repressive UAPA law, can be used to inflict great professional and personal suffering for the simple act of free expression,” said Karin Karlekar, Director of Writers at Risk at PEN America.
- PEN America welcomed the reported plea deal between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the U.S. government. “It is critical that his guilty plea on the single count not be construed as setting a precedent for further prosecutions or convictions of journalists under the Espionage Act,” PEN America stated.
- PEN America criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after he vetoed the entire state arts budget — nearly $32 million in funding — without explanation. “DeSantis is taking his war on culture to a new level,” said Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America’s Florida office. “This decision will not only devastate the arts but add to his legacy of censorship and disregard for art, literature, and knowledge.
