Words on Fire: Authors Sound Alarm to Defend Free Speech
PEN America Symposium Celebrates 100 Years of Defending Free Expression and the Power of the Written Word By Suzanne Trimel (NEW YORK) -- As leading literary luminaries gathered to celebrate PEN… More
His Fellow Writers—Some Among His Closest Friends—Gather to Read Salman Rushdie’s Words and Raise His Spirits at a New York Citadel of Books
[caption id="attachment_224117" align="alignnone" width="2560"] MANHATTAN, NY, AUGUST 19, 2022 PEN America holds a rally in support of writer Salman Rushdie at the New York Public Library in Manhattan, NY.… More
Letter Signed by 44 Writers Calls On President Biden to Raise Grave Human Rights Concerns on Trip to Saudi Arabia
President Joseph Biden The White House Washington, DC July 5, 2022 Dear President Biden, We the undersigned writers, journalists, creative artists, and supporters of PEN America, are writing to urge you to raise your… More
Detailing Severe Human Rights Abuses in Belarus, Leaders Call on the UN Human Rights Council to Extend the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Belarus
In Taped Reading, Author Margaret Atwood Reads Letter from her Belarusian Translator About the Arrests and Jailing of Writers, Journalists and Publishers By Suzanne Trimel (NEW YORK)-- The severe deterioration of… More
5 Myths about Educational Gag Orders
The legislators behind these gag orders are not interested in a productive back-and-forth with educators; what they want is simply to dictate the terms of teachers’ surrender. More
Margaret Atwood Unveils Fireproof Copy of Bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale To Be Auctioned by Sotheby’s in Support of PEN America
‘Powerful Words Can Never Be Extinguished’ (NEW YORK)--Nearly 700 supporters of PEN America's work to defend free expression reacted with cheers and applause at the organization's annual gala tonight after… More
Can the Written Word Make a Difference, as Global Threats Mount?
Writers Reflect on Peril at PEN America’s Emergency Congress of Writers By Suzanne Trimel Can the power of the written word meaningfully bring about change in a world threatened by… More
Displacement and the Life of a Writer: Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah Opens PEN World Voices Festival with Personal Remembrance and History
[caption id="attachment_220638" align="alignright" width="300"] An Evening with Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, PEN World Voices Festival 2022[/caption] “I believe that writing also has to show what can be otherwise, what it… More
Book Banning In Walton County Based On Misleading “Porn In Schools Report” Illustrates Alarming Influence Of Fringe Groups On Educational Censorship
School districts like Walton are letting bigoted, unfounded claims dictate access to literature for all Last week, reports circulated that Walton County School District in Florida decided to remove a… More
Letter to Hinds County School District Regarding Termination of Assistant Principal Toby Price
PEN America today sent a follow up letter to the officials of the Hinds County School District, concerning the ongoing adjudication of the decision to terminate former Gary Road… More
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PEN America On 
I really liked this #BannedBooksWeek display in the Teen Area. The display includes a printout of the full latest PEN America report: https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/
Our recent #BannedInTheUSA report found that nearly 1/2 banned titles were #YA books, but bans also included 317 picture books and 168 chapter books.
96% of bans were enacted without following the best practice guidelines outlined by @ALALibrary and @ncacensorship. #BannedBooks
“Young people of the world are my children, and I think we should all think that way.”
We think author @BenjaminASaenz may actually have the secrets of the universe. #VelshiBannedBookClub #Velshi
http://ow.ly/ouSN50KZ9Ph