Banned in the USA Q&A: Varian Johnson asks if book bans are meant to ‘keep a certain population of our country down’
For Banned Book Week, PEN America interviews Varian Johnson, author of The Parker Inheritance, which has been banned twice in the 2021-2022 school year. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Chen Chen
Art matters because it nourishes the heart. Like plums do. Like sunflowers. Like a good, long kiss in this brief, brief life. More
Interview with Stevie Wilson, an incarcerated writer in Pennsylvania
Before incarceration, I was an avid reader and understood the power of language and reading. Upon incarceration, I quickly figured out that the DOC wasn't going to provide the… More
Banned in the USA Q&A: Kyle Lukoff on the ‘desperate importance’ of fighting book bans
For Banned Book Week, PEN America interviews Kyle Lukoff, author of Call Me Max, which has been banned twice in the 2021-2022 school year. More
Banned in the USA Q&A: Ashley Hope Pérez on how book bans are failing our children
For Banned Book Week, PEN America interviews Ashley Hope Pérez, author of Out of Darkness, which has been banned 23 times in the 2021-2022 school year. More
The Cop in Your Head: On Andy West’s “The Life Inside”
PEN America's Tomás Miriti Pacheco reviews Andy West's "The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy" (Picador, 2022). More
Banned in the USA Q&A: Kalynn Bayron calls challenges ‘clearly homophobic’
For Banned Book Week, PEN America interviews Kaylnn Bayron, author of Cinderella is Dead, which has been banned at least three times in the 2021-2022 school year. More
Q&A with Burbank Unified School District Students
To make Black literature only accessible to students taking advanced courses narrows the amount of students that are able to have the in-classroom reading experience with the guidance of… More
Washington’s Ban on the Booty
These policies are not only controversial; they also have harmful impacts on prisoners, their relationships, and female staff working in the institutions. More
Refused: 15 years as a Books to Prison Program Volunteer
While many states have banned book lists that limit the books which can be mailed into prisons and jails, the unofficial censorship of the mailroom staff is even more… More
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Thanks to everyone who made our Saturday event, "Choosing Community," so invigorating!
ICYMI: a recording is coming soon.
Special thanks to @TamoaC @wilkinebrutus @gamarrae @EvelynPR @Laywony @anaspelaez @FlaGrassroots @sanctuary_arts @miami_freedom @VACaucus @cubanospalante.
“In many ways,” @DrIbram Kendi said, “this book banning is the latest effort for people to think that the existential threat is not #racism... the existential threat is not #sexism... the existential threat is not #transphobia... it’s just vicious, man.” https://thehilltoponline.com/2022/09/26/dr-ibram-x-kendi-and-rep-cori-bush-discuss-censorship-in-america/
Black voters matter. During #ALC51, join Yosef Getachew from @CommonCause, Candice Fortman from @media_outlier & Heather Harding from @campaignfuture at @PressClubDC in DC on 9/28 to discuss how we can empower Black voters by fighting disinformation. RSVP: http://bit.ly/3r7sScs