Georgia Election Workers Remarks at the 2024 PEN America Literary Gala
“Everyone working on behalf of our democracy seems to be absorbing hate from those who can’t abide the will of the voters. But they will not win." More
Phạm Đoan Trang Acceptance Speech | 2024 Freedom to Write Award
“I don’t want freedom for just myself; that’s too easy, I want something greater: freedom for Vietnam.” More
Jenny Finney Boylan’s Remarks at the 2024 PEN America Literary Gala
"All I have, other than the ability to tell a joke, are the tools of love and forgiveness. But is that enough to heal the world?" More
Almar Latour’s Remarks at the 2024 PEN America Literary Gala
"Russia may be an ocean and a continent away; but the distance between authoritarianism and a free society is measured by the strength of free speech." More
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel’s Remarks at the 2024 Literary Gala
At the 2024 PEN America Literary Gala, CEO Suzanne Nossel spoke about four basic principles that define PEN America's work. More
Ayad Akhtar’s Remarks at the 2022 PEN America Literary Gala
"Yes, speaking is at the root of it all, but we cannot only be speakers. We must be those listening, as well." More
A Story of Two Brains
“That’s what artists do: We imagine possibilities. . . . But the thing is, sometimes we get it wrong.” More
Attention and Affinities
“As writers, many of us are caught in the middle. Our creative imaginations are not discursive, but organic. We are pulled where the muses and where the fertile blindspots… More
Ayad Akhtar’s Remarks at the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala
“Reading, of course, is an individual act, but a culture that fosters reading and one that supports writers, invariably compels us to presence, to protest, to celebration.” More
Ron Chernow Stands for Press Freedom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Ron Chernow delivered a rousing speech in defense of press freedom and the First Amendment at the 2019 White House Correspondents' Dinner. More