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 launched the Incarcerated Writers Bureau, a groundbreaking digital resource that will help literary professionals work directly with writers behind bars. “For too long, powerful storytellers in prison have been left out of publishing and writing opportunities due to the challenges of connecting with the wider world,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, co-interim CEO. “The Incarcerated Writers Bureau joins a network of organizations and projects that have been working to break down those walls of separation through a more equitable practice.” Learn more about IWB here, and check out coverage of its launch in the AP here.
- A new interview with Derek Trumbo Sr., who completed his 19-year prison sentence in April, illuminates how PEN America’s resources have and will continue to open doors for incarcerated writers. The newly launched IWB, he said, could facilitate real change — “not just in the judicial system and how it works but also in the [literary] industry and in the minds of the people that we return home to.” Read the full interview here.
- PEN America joined 33 major publishers and advocacy groups in denouncing directives from the Tennessee Secretary of State that demand public libraries review their collections for “age-appropriateness” and compliance with the Trump administration’s executive order on gender identity. “Overcomplying to adhere to politically-motivated censorship continues to communicate to the general public that some stories are not worthy of being on shelves, perpetuating fearmongering and the erasure of marginalized communities’ stories,” said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director. Read more here, and read the letter here.
- PEN America spoke with award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Malinda Lo about the merits of incorporating sexual content into young adult literature. She debunked the myth that her books have any agenda, sex-related or otherwise, and urged critics to read them in full instead of judging excerpts stripped of their context. Read the full interview here.
- PEN America condemned the Trump administration’s legal effort to force the University of Pennsylvania to disclose the names of employees who made complaints about anti-Jewish discrimination as well as employees in its Jewish Studies Program and students in its Jewish clubs. “This subpoena is overbroad and unlawful, a dangerous fishing expedition that will chill speech on campus and intimidate students and faculty alike,” said Eileen Hershenov, chief legal officer. Read the full statement here.
