“They Killed Him”: Denial of Medical Care in China and the Literary Conscience
As a matter of medicine, it was of course cancer that took Liu’s life. But the responsibility for his death must rest on the shoulders of the Chinese state. More
SLAPPs: The Greatest Free Expression Threat You’ve Never Heard Of?
SLAPPs are a prevalent and serious—but still under-acknowledged—threat to free speech and expression. It should never be “unaffordable” to speak up. More
Power Must Be Reasonable: A Conversation with Alexander Sokurov and Kirill Serebrennikov
A government that has power has a definite responsibility. And when the authorities become aware of their own power, a great number of temptations begin to arise. More
“I’m on the Move”: Oleg Sentsov Sends Letter from Prison
Filmmaker Oleg Sentsov managed to send a letter from prison to Russian human rights defender Zoya Svetova. Here, PEN America translates the letter into English for the first time. More
October Featured Case: Dareen Tatour
Tatour was charged with incitement to violence and support of terrorism, stemming primarily from a reading of her poem “Resist, My People, Resist Them” posted on YouTube… More
Take a Stand—and a Knee—with NFL Athletes
The President is way out of bounds when he calls for athletes to be fired for acts of protected speech. More
Javier Duarte and the Problem of Impunity in Mexico
Javier Duarte de Ochoa, the notoriously corrupt ex-governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz, was extradited in July from Guatemala to Mexico after six months on the run. More
Arts Community Rallies Against Muslim Travel Ban
Thirty arts groups—including PEN America, the Sundance Institute, Americans for the Arts, and the Future of Music Coalition—have jointly filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to strike… More
PEN America joins PEN Myanmar in calling for release of Myanmar photojournalists detained in Bangladesh
Police in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, arrested two Myanmar photojournalists, Min Zeyar Oo and Hkun Lat, on assignment in Cox's Bazar for the German magazine GEO to report on the… More
Sounding the Alarm: International Experts and Trump’s Attacks on the Media
An overview of recent statements indicates that human rights watchdogs around the world believe press freedom is under attack as never before in the United States. More