PEN Presses for End to Ideological Exclusion
One week before an Appeals Court hears its challenge to the exclusion of Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan from the U.S., PEN joined 59 other organizations in sending a letter… More
PEN Election Results: Kwame Anthony Appiah Named President
New York, NY, March 19, 2009—PEN American Center, the 3400-member association of literary writers, editors, and translators, announced yesterday the election of Kwame Anthony Appiah, the acclaimed scholar, author,… More
Writers Decry Detentions During Clinton Visit to China
Writers reacted angrily to reports that members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center and other leading Chinese intellectuals have been confined to their homes or had their movements and… More
PEN Executive Director to Step Down on June 30
Executive Director Michael Roberts announced today in a letter to the PEN membership that he would conclude his service as Executive Director at the end of the current program… More
Writer Tohti Tunyaz Released From Prison in China a Week Before Clinton Visit
PEN American Center expressed relief today at the news that imprisoned writer, historian, and winner of the 2002 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, Tohti Tunyaz, was released from… More
PEN American Center Wins NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) today announced PEN American Center as the recipient of its prestigious Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award. With past winners including Studs Terkel, Richard… More
Writers Hail Executive Orders Ending Torture and Illegal Detention
PEN American Center praised President Barack Obama’s quick action in signing executive orders closing Guantanamo Bay and other secret detention facilities and explicitly banning torture, actions the organization has… More
World Authors Call on Chinese Authorities to Release Liu Xiaobo
Over 300 members of International PEN, the world writers’ association, have joined together to protest the ongoing detention of prominent Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo by the Chinese authorities.… More
International PEN Statement on the War in Gaza
I had imagined being there beneath sunlight / with the procession of martyrs / using just the one thin bone / to uphold a true conviction More
Leading PEN Member Liu Xiaobo Detained in China on Eve of Human Rights Day
PEN American Center expressed extreme dismay today over the detention of prominent dissident and leading PEN Member Dr. Liu Xiaobo on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” a… More
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