PEN America Condemns “Alarming Spread” of Violence and Harassment Against Drag Story Hours
"These violent responses to drag performers and members of the LGBTQ+ community strike at the heart of the freedom to gather, read, perform, and share community safely, all bedrocks… More
Banning of Non-English Dictionaries in Michigan Prisons Tramples on Fundamental Rights
"To punish a broad segment of the prison population is short-sighted, in addition to trampling on prisoners’ fundamental rights.” More
Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights (April 2022)
PEN America has collated an Index of School Book Bans, offering a snapshot of the trend of decisions to ban books in school libraries and classrooms in the United… More
Closing Ranks: State Legislators Deepen Assaults on the Right to Protest
State policymakers have introduced at least 100 proposals since June 2020 to reduce the scope of Americans’ right to protest, PEN America research finds. More
The PEN Pod: Challenging and Critiquing White Feminism with Koa Beck
“A broader initiative that needs to be taken. . . is teaching marginalized genders. . . We have cis women, trans women, nonbinary people, trans men, gender-variant people, two-spirit,… More
The PEN Pod: Reckoning and Reconciliation after the Trump Era with Suzanne Nossel
“What we’re confronting on, for example, issues of race is the lingering pain and trauma that persists when there isn’t a full reckoning.” More
The PEN Pod: Exploring the Impact of the Capitol Hill Insurrection on Free Speech with Suzanne Nossel
“We have seen that. . . the sense of grievance that certain voices are being shut down, excluded, and drowned out, is a potent message that the right uses… More
Dare to Speak: A Reading List
In this reading list, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel expands on the books that helped inform the free speech principles in her new book, Dare to Speak. More
The PEN Pod: Tough Questions About a Critical Week with Suzanne Nossel
“It’s a very unsettling moment. . . we share a sense of alarm at the naked racism and brutality that people, and particularly Black Americans, have experienced.” More