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.
- In a new statement, PEN America said starvation must not be used as a weapon of war, and called for the protection of human rights of writers and all civilians in Gaza. Read the statement.
- PEN America, along with the Florida Freedom to Read Project (FFTRP), published a new report on how the “parental rights” narrative has delivered control not into the hands of all parents but to a tiny segment of citizens—some not even parents—whose overriding goal is censorship. It’s a dangerous blueprint now being emulated across the country and at the national level. Read the Blueprint State Report, our press release, and coverage in Publishers Weekly and Words and Money.
- PEN America called President Trump’s request to cut funding, which Congress already has approved, for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, “a blatant attempt to sway or silence media outlets that don’t align with the president’s preferred narrative, a tactic he’s already used repeatedly.” Read our full statement here, and coverage in The Guardian.
- PEN America criticized the latest travel bans mandated by the White House. Hadar Harris, managing director of PEN America’s Washington, D.C. office, said, “They destabilize the world by creating barriers to the free exchange of ideas and culture. Travel bans are an autocratic move that reinforce a xenophobic agenda, inhibit critical thinking, and narrow world views.” Read our full statement here.
- PEN America announced its latest cohorts for the Emerging Voices Workshop in Los Angeles. Learn more and meet them here.
- Flags are under fire as latest targets of censorship in some states in the country. More than a dozen states have recently enacted or are considering bans on diverse flags — such as those celebrating Pride or Black Lives Matter — in public schools or on government property. Read our blog about it here.
- At PEN America’s World Voices Festival 2025, Mexican novelist Guadalupe Nettel, Argentine novelist Gabriela Cabezón Cámara and Uruguayan author Fernanda Trías came together for a panel on Latin American writers and literature. Read our rundown here.
