Joint letter calling for release of Arash Ganji and other IWA members in Iran
PEN America and its allies call on the Supreme Leader of Iran to urgently release filmmaker and poet Baktash Abtin and all unjustly detained for their writing or expression. More
PEN America Calls for the Immediate Acquittal and Release of Mongolian Activist Munkhbayar Chuluundorj Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Protesting China-Mongolia Relations
“The harsh and unjust verdict in Munkhbayar Chuluundorj’s trial is a grave violation of the fundamental right to free expression,” says Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to… More
PEN America Condemns Sentencing of Myanmar Writer-Activist Wai Moe Naing and Calls for His Release
“The sentencing of Wai Moe Naing following months of arbitrary detention and an unfair trial blatantly flouts international judicial standards and reveals the Myanmar junta’s deliberate effort to silence… More
Artist Jenny Holzer to Light Up Rockefeller Center in Tribute to PEN America’s 100 Years of Defending Free Expression
Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, said: “Because her work reifies and celebrates words, there could not be an artist more fitting to celebrate PEN America’s centenary than the… More
PEN America Calls for the Immediate Release of Vietnamese Human Rights Defender Pham Doan Trang, and Raises Grave Concerns For Her Health
“The unjust imprisonment of Pham Doan Trang on the arbitrary charge of anti-state propaganda is, unfortunately, another example of the Vietnamese government’s persecution of journalists and human rights defenders… More
Grave Concern for Poet Zhang Guiqi, Sentenced to Six Years in Prison, for Calling on Xi Jinping to Step Down
PEN America and the Independent Chinese PEN Centre condemn the conviction of poet Zhang Guiqi and calls for his immediate release. More
PEN America Condemns “Grotesque” Sentencing of Saudi Student to 34 Years in Prison for Her Tweets
PEN America condemns the imprisonment of Salma Al-Shehab, who was sentenced to 34 years in prison for her Twitter activity. More
PEN America, with 102 International Writers and Artists, Calls for India to Uphold the Freedom to Write Ahead of 75th Independence Day Celebration
Over 100 writers and artists joined PEN America and PEN International in urging Indian President Droupadi Murmu to defend free expression in India. More
Two Years After the Rigged Belarus Election, the United States Can Do More to Call Out Aleksandr Lukashenka’s Abuses
By Polina Sadovskaya The fraudulent election of Aleksandr Lukashenka as president of Belarus on August 9, 2020 surprised no one. Everyone expected him to ‘win,’ but very few wanted him… More
PEN America Condemns Sentencing of Belarusian Journalists
“The ongoing targeting of journalists, including, prolonging sentences, and the general atmosphere of repression in Belarus are an urgent cause for international concern,” said Polina Sadovskaya, director of Eurasia… More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
"There need to be spaces for Americans to learn about Blackness outside of an American context," writes @KeishelNOTKesha in reaction to @ChimamandaReal's novel Half of a Yellow Sun being challenged and banned from a classroom in Michigan. #BannedBooks https://pen.org/chimamanda-ngozie-adichies-half-of-a-yellow-sun-the-danger-of-a-single-untold-story/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug
PEN America Calls for Spurious Charges to be Dropped Against Writer, Playwright, and Filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga (@EfieZethu) in Zimbabwe. #TsitsiDangarembga https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-calls-for-spurious-charges-to-be-dropped-against-writer-playwright-and-filmmaker-tsitsi-dangarembgaon-in-zimbabwe/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug
PEN America Calls for Release of Imprisoned Iranian Writers and Artists as Anti-Government Protests Land Dissident Voices in Jail. #Iran #RezaKhandanMahabadi https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-calls-for-release-of-imprisoned-iranian-writers-and-artists-as-anti-government-protests-land-dissident-voices-in-jail/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug