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 released Cover to Cover, a new analysis of thousands of books that are banned in public schools across the United States. The research found that books about people of color and with LGBTQ+ identities were prime targets, and so were books on disabled people, immigrants, social activism, and bullying. The report was covered in The Washington Post, The Guardian, NBC News, People Magazine, School Library Journal, and on The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC radio.
- PEN America joined a coalition of seven national free speech and arts organizations, led by the National Coalition Against Censorship, in condemning the Trump administration’s effort to exert control over federally-supported cultural initiatives, expressing alarm over new grantee rules for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the administration’s exertion of political control over the Kennedy Center. Read our press release here.
- PEN America criticized President Trump’s threat to pass a law against writers and journalists using anonymous sources. “The freedom of citizens to criticize their government without fear of reprisal — including anonymously — is an elemental First Amendment freedom, which is exactly why the President is threatening to go after it,” said Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms managing director for U.S. Free Expression Programs. Read his full statement here.
- In celebration of Black History Month, we spoke to Black-owned bookstores across the country to learn more about their journeys and get book recommendations. Read the interviews here. We also put together a banned book reading list covering books about Black History. Add some to your own TBR here.
- PEN America’s Los Angeles office partnered with Vroman’s Bookstores to celebrate the launch of PEN America President Jenneifer Finney Boylan’s new book, Cleavage, in an event in conversation with renowned writer Colm Tóibín. Read more about the event. Buy the book here.
- PEN America launched a new blog series, “Conversations on the Quad,” featuring student experiences of censorial legislation and changing campus climates. To kick off the first one, we talked to Pratika Katiyar, a Northeastern University senior, award-winning activist, Student Press Law Center Board Member, and former PEN America Free Expression Leadership Fellow. Read the full conversation here.
- For the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, wrote about the legacy of Ukrainian writers, Victoria Amelina and Volodymyr Vakulenko. Read the full blog here.
- Sabrina Baeta, senior program manager in PEN America’s Freedom to Read program was on For Book Sake, a podcast about the publishing industry. Listen to the episode here. They were also on the podcast, Live From Bookshop, to talk about book bans. Listen to the episode here.
- PEN America’s Tat Bellamy-Walker, Program Manager of Digital Safety Training and Resources (Media), was on the podcast Cancel Me Daddy to talk about Meta’s three-pronged attack and how to protect ourselves online. Listen to the episode here.
- Jeremy Young, director of state and higher education policy at PEN America, was quoted in multiple Inside Higher Ed articles about the rising threats to free expression in education. Read about what college presidents are saying about Trump here, and about NSF’s Higher Ed Research ‘Hit List’ here.
- PEN America Los Angeles wrapped up a successful month-long series, You Are A Writer. The workshop, under PEN America’s Emerging Voices initiative, was focused on creative nonfiction and saw over 200 participants this year. Read more about the series here, and about Emerging Voices here.
- PEN America called on Algerian authorities to immediately release Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal who is on a hunger strike to protest his wrongful imprisonment. Read our statement here.
- PEN America expressed concern over a federal judge’s ruling in favor of the White House in restricting journalists from the Associated Press to cover the government. “This ruling, even if temporary, sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the fundamental principles of free speech,” said Tim Richardson, PEN America’s journalism and disinformation program director. Read our full statement here.
- The Free Narges Coalition, of which PEN America is a part, called to extend the suspension of the prison sentence for Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize and PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write awardee who has been home from serving a 13 year prison sentence following a surgery late last year. Read our statement here.
- PEN America condemned the relocation of 30,000 books in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, libraries to review unacceptable sexual content. “What’s happening in Livingston Parish libraries shows the harrowing impact that vague legislation and a manufactured moral panic around obscenity can have on a community,” said Baeta. Read our press release here.
- PEN America strongly denounced the sentencing of prominent Vietnamese author and journalist Truong Huy San to 30 months in prison. “The sentencing is a blatant attempt to silence expression and signals a chilling message to writers, journalists, and activists across Vietnam who dare to express independent thought,” said PEN America research and advocacy manager Anh-Thu Vo. Read our statement to the press here.
- PEN America criticized New York Governor Kathy Hochul for demanding City University of New York to take down and review a job posting for a Palestinian studies faculty at Hunter College. “The posting may have been offensive to some, but it is the right and responsibility of the academic community to confront challenging areas of inquiry through independent research, teaching, and publishing,” said Kristen Shahverdian, Campus Free Speech program director at PEN America in response. Read the full statement here.
- In the third installment of the interview series Shelf Love, we spoke to Jonny Garza Villa, a romance writer whose mission is to bring more queer, BIPOC romances on page. Read the full interview here.
- For this week’s PEN Ten, we spoke to Roya Marsh, whose latest poetry collection, savings time (MCD, 2025) is an exploration of the joys and hardships experienced by the Black community. Read the full interview by PEN America’s Sarah Dillard here.
- For another PEN Ten, we also spoke to Keeonna Harris, whose memoir Mainline Mama details the impact that her boyfriend’s 22 year prison sentence had on her life. Read the full interview by PEN American’s Juliana Luna here.
