Mediawashed Middle East
For six years I have been speaking about the Middle East in schools, libraries, and community centers in the U.S. I discuss my novels set in Iran, and my… More
Children’s Book Committee Relocates Library to New Orleans
Through the initiative of Committee Co-Chair Fatima Shaik, the Children's/Young Adult Book Authors Committee helped move an elementary school library from St. Joseph's School in Greenwich Village, New York… More
My Banned Books
Before the decade ended, I was asked to return a payment of $50.00 to an educational publisher. My poem about dinosaurs had to be removed from a language arts… More
QA: Büşra Ersanli freed trial
From the day that the prosecutor ruled my detention, until now, everything has been upside down. I am speechless and now going back to Silivri [prison] to pack my… More
PEN Welcomes Leahy Statement on Press Freedom Violations in Ethiopia
New York City, May 17, 2012—Senator Patrick Leahy yesterday made a strong statement in favor of press freedom in Ethiopia, where the 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award… More
Human rights defender and journalist Nargess Mohammadi released
From the day that the prosecutor ruled my detention, until now, everything has been upside down. I am speechless and now going back to Silivri [prison] to pack my… More
PEN Children’s and Young Adult Book Authors Committee Receives Award
[caption id="attachment_7944" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Members of the PEN Children’s and Young Adult Book Authors Committee at annual holiday party"][/caption] The Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology… More
Flavor of Words: Brian Selznick and Paul O. Zelinsky in Correspondence
And how do you understand the meaning of “work”? The term has rankled me ever since I was an undergraduate art major, standing in awed incomprehension of my professors’… More
Morningloria
Morningloriawe ran long distancesvolunteered with dogsfound our cars in towing yardsacross town from our apartmentswaited in vestibulesof county jails for daughterstaken by accidentjust long enough tofantasize about a futuretaking… More
PEN Panel Tracks Authors Who ‘Made It’
In any discussion on how to be a children’s book author, questions naturally focus on the beginning of the journey—how to get started, how to get an agent, how… More
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PEN America On 
The vagueness is the point. @ThePlumLineGS gets it right. Lawmakers had many chances to make the Don't Say Gay law clearer; they kept it vague. State guidance has also gone further than the original law, w/ worse penalties. Results are #Chilling #EdScare
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/27/desantis-school-libraries-dont-say-gay-critical-race-theory/
Still so proud to have been involved in this project, with amazing and dedicated collaborators @saliltripathi, @suketumehta, and Kiran Desai. Love for India and its promise and potential span decades, nationality, and continents. https://twitter.com/PENamerica/status/1618972267354136576
I am honored to be one of the judges for this year's PEN/ROBERT J. DAU SHORT STORY PRIZE FOR EMERGING WRITERS @PENamerica
https://pen.org/meet-the-2023-literary-awards-judges/