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.
- A new report by PEN America and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center found that the Chinese government is waging a systematic campaign to erase Mongolian language and culture online. The report, “Save Our Mother Tongue”: Online Repression and Erasure of Mongolian Culture in China, draws on 20 in-depth interviews, public records, and digital research to demonstrate the extreme crackdown on Mongolian expression online. Read the report here.
- PEN America called for the end of the legal persecution of Jihad Abdo, a Palestinian writer who has faced nearly a decade of legal harassment from the Palestinian Authority. “Writers and human rights defenders like Abdo are essential to the future of Palestine, and must be protected, not targeted with baseless charges,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, managing director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center. Read the full statement here.
- In a blog post, Daniel Shank Cruz, special assistant for U.S. free expression programs, explains why ICE’s threat of violence also poses a threat to free expression. Read the blog post here.
- PEN America condemned the ongoing removal of signs at national parks and historic sites by the Trump administration, the latest in Philadelphia about the connection between the founders and slavery. Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program, said censorship of this kind amounts to the “blatant erasure of history” and represents an assault on the basic rights to read and learn. Read the statement here.
- With the human rights record of Georgia coming under review at the United Nations, PEN Georgia, PEN International and PEN America reiterated urgent concerns over the Georgian authorities’ systematic onslaught on fundamental rights and independent voices, including in the cultural sphere. Read the statement here and the joint submission here.
- Want to stop Florida’s next wave of book bans in K-12 schools? Take action here, and read more about the two bills that will weaken even more safeguards in the number one book-banning state here.
- PEN America mourned the death of Georges Borchardt, a renowned literary agent and former member of the Board of Trustees. He introduced English readers to literary giants like Elie Wiesel and Samuel Beckett while also championing major authors including Jean-Paul Sartre, Marguerite Duras, Eugene Ionesco, Ian McEwan, Tracy Kidder and historian-journalist Anne Applebaum. Read the statement here.
- Ready Living Podcast spoke to Viktorya Vilk, director for digital safety and free expression, about the authoritarian playbook that targets journalists, higher education, and other institutions. “You don’t have to actually attack every single human being and every single journalism organization and every single institution,” she said. “You just need enough high-profile cases that the fear does the work for you.” Take a listen here.
- PEN America condemned the University of Arkansas for rescinding its job offer to legal scholar Emily Suski, the incoming dean of the School of Law, due to pressure from state politicians. “Rescinding a dean’s appointment because of politicians’ objections is a blatant violation of academic freedom and an alarming act of political interference,” said Kristen Shahverdian, program director for campus free speech. Read the full statement here, and read coverage that references it by the Arkansas Advocate here.
- In articles about the state of higher education, Tennessean and MassLive cited PEN America’s report, America’s Censored Campuses: Expanding the Web of Control, which highlights the unprecedented heights of government censorship of colleges and universities. Read their coverage here and here, and take a look at the report here. Public Citizen also cited the report in its amicus brief in EEOC v. The University of Pennsylvania.
- An op-ed in the Guardian that raises alarm about the Trump administration’s effort to form a list of Jews at the University of Pennsylvania references PEN America’s statement on the issue. Read the op-ed here, and read PEN America’s statement here.
