Cuban Artist Under House Arrest Begins Hunger and Thirst Strike
Independent Cuban artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara announced that he would begin a hunger and thirst strike this week after being placed under de facto house arrest.… More
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature Returns, Celebrating Power to the People
The literary and free expression group PEN America today announced that tickets are now on sale for the 2021 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, running May 18-22.… More
PEN America Responds to Publisher’s Decision to Pause Philip Roth Biography
(New York, NY) — This week, publisher W. W. Norton said it would pause shipments and promotion of Blake Bailey's anticipated book Philip Roth: The Biography after serious and… More
PEN America Welcomes House Passage of Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act
In a strong bipartisan vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act of 2021. More
On One Year Anniversary of His Arrest, Vietnamese Writer Tran Duc Thach Must Be Freed
— On the one year anniversary of Vietnamese writer Tran Duc Thach’s arrest, PEN America reiterates its call for Vietnamese authorities to release him. More
PEN America Releases Third Annual Prison Writing Anthology
PEN America today announced the release of its third annual PEN America Prison Writing Awards Anthology, this year entitled Breathe into the Ground. More
PEN America: China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey Remain World’s Top Jailers of Writers
In PEN America’s annual census of detained writers worldwide, The Freedom to Write Index, the literary and free expression group found that in 2020, at least 273 writers, academics,… More
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel to Join Oversight Board
The literary and free expression group PEN America announced today that its CEO Suzanne Nossel—a free expression expert, human rights leader, author, and lawyer—will join the Oversight Board. More
Detained Belarusian PEN Center Member Must Be Released
PEN America today called for the immediate release of Belarusian PEN Center member Aliaksandr Fiaduta, a political scientist, literary critic, and former aid to Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. More
Trial of Russian Artist Charged With “Disseminating Pornography” Begins
A Russian feminist artist and LGBTQIA+ activist is being tried this week on charges of disseminating pornography for her artwork that depicts nude bodies. More