The PEN Pod: On Protesting Book Bans with the Students of York, PA
“We saw. . . what was happening at our school and we wanted to take immediate action. . . . Because we knew we had to do it.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Victoria Chang
“If Dear Memory could walk, talk, and gesticulate, it would be a melancholic Victoria Chang who was trying to speak to the dead and make sense of other people’s… More
The PEN Pod: On Dave Chappelle, Protecting Journalists, and More Facebook Revelations
“My goal was to document voices that were not heard the same way that others were, and I wanted to make sure to hand a mic to my local… More
The PEN Pod: Spotlighting the Readers of New York with Uli Beutter Cohen
“My goal was to document voices that were not heard the same way that others were, and I wanted to make sure to hand a mic to my local… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
“The stories we are told, and the stories we tell ourselves, shape us in profound ways. They affect how we see ourselves and others, for good or for ill.” More
The PEN Pod: Reflecting on the Impacts of Hurricane Maria with Ricia Chansky and Zaira Arvelo Alicea
“These are the stories that are missing. . . . How did people, when there was no help coming, how did people gather together to care for each other,… More
The PEN Pod: On Our Gala, Free Speech in Higher Ed, and Facebook Algorithms with Suzanne Nossel
“Nurturing the community in that way, creating these opportunities to get together, we see as part of our role at PEN America, and we were glad to be able… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Arnold Lehman
“I do believe that American museums continue to present exhibitions and programs that approach and challenge the status quo.” More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
“That’s all a story really is: two or more people getting together, and one of them letting out what they need to be heard.” More
The PEN Pod: On Writer-to-Writer Solidarity and the Rise of Book Bans with Suzanne Nossel
“For us, at PEN, doing a lot of work on press freedom issues. . . it’s a reminder of what we’re fighting for.” More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
A Republican state lawmaker has launched an investigation into whether Texas school districts carry any of 850 book titles in their libraries -- 850! -- wants to know how many copies they have and how much money they spent on them.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/26/texas-school-books-race-sexuality/
A concentrated set of users on Twitter drive 70% of the hate content targeting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a new analysis found. https://bit.ly/3benywa
Important article by @PENamerica ‘s @SuzanneNossel Chinese Censorship Is Going Global https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/10/26/chinese-censorship-enes-kanter-celtics-browder-is-going-global/
