“Do you really want to know why the caged bird sings?”: On Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir
Emma Stamen reviews Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir Bird Uncaged (Bold Type Books, 2021) More
Bookstores Across America, Vol. Three: A Roundup of Ways to Support Indie Bookstores
With independent bookstores forced to shut their doors due to the global pandemic, we reached out to booksellers to ask them how readers can support their favorite stores while… More
Local Journalist Heroes: Zainab Iqbal
“As long as people keep reading, we won’t stop reporting. It’s not always easy, but our immense love for the communities we cover keeps us going.” More
The PEN Pod: Creating Inner Worlds with Deborah Feldman
“Use this opportunity to learn to create this rich inner self and this inner world, because later. . . those skills will remain very valuable.” More
Local Journalist Heroes: Justine van der Leun
“Any prison reporting that centers the voices of those inside is the result of someone having the courage to come forward in the face of losing what little they… More
PEN America to Host Lit Crawl NYC in Brooklyn
This vibrant festival of books and culture will wind its way through Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill this fall, featuring lively conversations and events staged at local businesses throughout the neighborhood. More
Free Expression Digest: Fri., April 22
Five journalists released from prison in Myanmar, Mauritanian blogger's death sentence upheld, New York City poll workers threaten journalist. More
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PEN America On 
Another bit of sound legal judgement this week, from TX, where a judge found that conservative library board members had likely exercised unconstitutional content-based restrictions when banning books from the Llano public library. The books ordered back.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/31/texas-llano-library-books/
Talking to @AliVelshi, historian @TimothyDSnyder likens book bans in #Florida to Communism: “All this stuff is supposed to be anti-communist but as a historian of communism, that reminds me of some of the basic things that were wrong about communism.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yale-professor-ron-desantis-book-bans_n_642696c7e4b02a8d518df5a9
Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted today of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights. Mackey sent fraudulent messages encouraging supporters of Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which was legally invalid. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/social-media-influencer-douglass-mackey-convicted-election-interference-2016