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As we @PENamerica reel from the horrific news of the attack against Salman Rushdie—brilliant writer, free expression defender, & past PEN President—I can think of no better way to honor him than with his own incisive & urgent & words from our 2022 Emergency Writers Congress:
Tonight: I'll be speaking live at @TEDxKC about educational censorship and the work of @PENamerica.
Come for the book bans... stay for the educational gag orders. #EdScare #Bookbans #Freadom Free livestream at 7pmET. https://www.tedxkc.org/
Three months ago I heard Salman Rushdie speak at the PEN World Voices Festival. He said: “A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t defuse a bomb … But we are not helpless … We can sing the truth & name the liars.” We must tell better stories than the tyrants.