Laws restricting drag shows should scare everyone who believes in free expression
A wave of bills restricting free expression is building in state legislatures. This time, the target is drag performances. More
Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s “Half of A Yellow Sun:” The danger of a single untold story
"Denying students age-appropriate opportunities to read Half of a Yellow Sun in classrooms because the truth is too violent is denying them the opportunity to understand the truth 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
Abolitionist Organizing: Brick by Brick, Book by Book
Struggles against prison censorship remind us that information is power and that prisons maintain their power, in part, by preventing the spread of dangerous ideas. More
Forbidden Knowledge
History warns us of the dangers of banning books, but the effects of information control on imprisoned women are intimate and profound. More
Prison Book Bans, Protect Mass Incarceration
I resist the dehumanization that prisons create, which is further maintained by unjust censorship. More
Now This Man
Joseph Grosso was awarded 2nd Place in Nonfiction Essay in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and… More
The Unintended Consequences of Retributive Justice
Daniel Pirkel was awarded an Honorable Mention in Nonfiction Essay in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
I Work as a Lead Man
Paul Wach was awarded an Honorable Mention in Nonfiction Essay in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
Okay I’m fan-boying out on a dozen different levels here.
At the heart of @PENamerica Birmingham Reads is the assumption that communities form around the meaning of language—that the way we use words defines the world as we know it.
Countdown to @imaniperry at @MilesCollege.
Join us. ✨
https://tinyurl.com/43jxc3hb
From school board meetings to statehouses to newsrooms to digital spaces—free expression is under threat around the world.
We invite high school & college students to share your thoughts—using the 10 prompts above—in our Free Expression Essay Competition: https://pen.org/free-expression-advocacy-institutes/free-expression-essay-competition/