2018 Literary Gala: Eskinder Nega
I ask whether those who are free have an obligation towards those of us who are not free. And I say they do. This obligation is not legal but… More
2018 Literary Gala: Presentation of the 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award
Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, are journalists who specialize in politically sensitive subjects. When arrested they were on assignment by Reuters investigating the torching and pillage… More
2018 Literary Gala: Stephen King, PEN America Literary Service Award
"The percentage of readers is relatively small compared to the population as a whole. Just think for a minute of all the people you see on these streets every… More
2018 Literary Gala: Jennifer Egan
"As a fiction writer and a journalist, I’m more accustomed to the role of spectator, ideally as close to invisible as possible—it helps me eavesdrop. What led me to… More
PEN America to Honor Imprisoned Myanmar Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo with 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award
“By simply doing their jobs, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo demonstrated exceptional courage, knowing full well the risks they were taking in pursuing this story. Yet they continued... More
2018 PEN America Literary Gala & Free Expression Awards
Tuesday, May 22, 6:30pm American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City Watch videos and read transcripts from the night of the 2018 PEN America Literary… More
2018 PEN America Literary Service Award: Stephen King
King is an impassioned advocate of freedom of expression, literacy, and access to information, which he and his wife Tabitha support through their philanthropy. More
Oleg Sentsov: I don’t want my children to live in a country of slaves
The you of today looks back at the you of yesterday, more sober, more shrewd, and in some ways even more cruel. More
2016 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award: Ahmed Naji
Ahmed Naji is the author of three books, a journalist at literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab, and a frequent contributor to other newspapers and websites in which he has criticized… More
JK Rowling defends Donald Trump’s right to be ‘offensive and bigoted’
JK Rowling has said that while she finds almost everything that Donald Trump says “objectionable”, he still has her full support to come to the UK and “be offensive… More
Alert Us
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PEN America On 
Musk's Twitter "amnesty" plan alarms activists.
Zimbabwean journalist @daddyhope tweeted that it would be "a major disaster especially in Africa where State sponsored Ghost accounts were suspended for endangering human rights activists & journalists!"
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/25/musk-suspended-twitter-accounts-amnesty-plans-alarm-activists
⭕️ Online abuse shouldn't silence people or stop them from sharing their perspectives.
@NDI and @PENamerica have created an Arabic-language manual to help journalists and activists protect themselves online and navigate the digital landscape. ⬇️
https://onlineharassmentfieldmanual.pen.org/ar/
The reason I’m not leaving — yet, anyway — is that I dread “unwinding connections to sources, colleagues,” and over 1.35M followers. The alternatives don’t yet ”offer the same reach, or the rich vein of dissimilarity across social and geographic lines.”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-i-quit-elon-musks-twitter