PEN America/PEN International: Chinese Authorities Should Immediately Release Blogger Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
“The seven-year prison sentence handed down to Ruan Xiaohuan for his politics and technology blog is an outrage. Blogging is not a crime and the heavy prison sentence on… More
PEN America, With Other Free Speech Organizations, Sends Letter to Congress Opposing Proposed National TikTok Ban
The letter reads in part: “We recognize the grave concerns that TikTok and other social media platforms pose for the privacy of individual users. We are also aware and… More
PEN America and Amani: Africa Creative Defence Network Call on Ugandan President to Veto Anti-LGBTQI Rights Law, Condemning it as a Serious Strike Against Free Expression
“We have seen a troubling rise in cases of Ugandan artists and cultural professionals who have been arrested merely on the grounds of telling the stories of LGBTQI+ communities… More
Oklahoma teacher is still fighting book bans, now from Brooklyn
Summer Boismier lost her job after she gave students a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned project. Now she’s helping teens fight book bans. More
National Organizations Condemn Cancellation of Student Play at Douglas Anderson School of Performing Arts in Duval County, FL
“Indecent is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 2015 play by Paula Vogel that possesses rich educational and artistic merit. It has been produced Off-Broadway, on Broadway, and has been broadcast… More
PEN America Condemns “Alarming Spread” of Violence and Harassment Against Drag Story Hours
"These violent responses to drag performers and members of the LGBTQ+ community strike at the heart of the freedom to gather, read, perform, and share community safely, all bedrocks… More
New Report: Troubling Rise in Restrictions on Artistic Freedom and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean
“In the last few years, political and social tensions have risen dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean amid the confluence of grave crises and dramatic changes. Authoritarian governments… More
Florida Adopts Even More Punitive Provisions Against Teachers and Students To Implement New Controversial Education Laws
(NEW YORK)-- A new set of rules passed by the Florida Board of Education to implement controversial laws like the “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop W.O.K.E” acts are “alarming”… More
New PEN America Report: Deep and Persistent Obstacles in Publishing Houses Impede Greater Diversity in Terms of Authors and Stories Told
“Publishers are the curators of America’s stories,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, chief program officer for PEN America’s Literary Programs. “They are gatekeepers who decide whose stories will be told… More
PEN America Condemns Transfer of Vietnamese Writer Pham Doan Trang to Remote Prison
“From Pham Doan Trang’s lengthy incommunicado detention to the wholly disproportionate and unjustified sentence of nine years in prison handed down in her case last year, it comes as… More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
As @JoyVBehar points out, Americans' knowledge of the Holocaust is declining even as the movement to ban books—including #Holocaust-themed works such as @jodipicoult's The Storyteller—is accelerating.
Behar also gives a shoutout to 100-year-old Grace Linn! #JoysBannedBookClub https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1639315584860192772
Outstanding piece by @andreacgore, Vacek Chair in pharmacology/professor of psychology at UT-Austin, defending faculty tenure against SB 18. She argues that immunotherapy would not exist if UT-Austin had not given tenure to its discoverer. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/university-texas-andrea-gore-professor-tenure-17816783.php
What does academic freedom mean now, and how might it change?
Here's our whole Future Trends Forum conversation with @ACEducation and @PENamerica researchers:
https://youtu.be/nQ8Kl0XJIr0
#FTTE
HT @roxannriskin