6:00 PM VIP Reception | 6:30 PM Cocktail Reception | 7:30 PM Awards and Dinner | 9:30 PM Dessert and Afterparty
Attire: Black Tie
The annual PEN America Literary Gala is a highlight of the New York literary and social calendars, with over 800 guests and an exceptional group of leading writers who sit among them as Literary Hosts. Every year, it is an inspiring, exhilarating, moving event as we honor those who embody PEN America’s mission to celebrate, champion and defend freedom of expression. The proceeds from this dinner are crucial to PEN America’s dynamic cultural programming and critical advocacy work.
2024 Honorees
Business Visionary Honoree
Almar Latour
Chief Executive Officer, Dow Jones
Publisher, The Wall Street Journal
PEN/Barbey Freedom To Write Award
Phạm Đoan Trang
Vietnamese writer, publisher, journalist, and pro-democracy advocate
PEN/Benenson Courage Award to be announced.
Featuring
Andrea Mitchell
Gala Committee Co-Chairs
Colette Bennett • Markus Dohle • Sean Kelly • Anya Salama
Gala Committee Members
Pamela and Peter Barbey • Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson • Laura Bickford and Stephen Graham
Kimberly Morgan Blank • Deirdre Finney Boylan and Jennifer Finney Boylan • John Chao • Bridget Colman
Roxanne Donovan • Patricia Duff • Lauren Embrey • Sheree and Jerry Friedman • Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Tom Healy and Fred P. Hochberg • Elizabeth Hemmerdinger • Tracy Higgins • Beth Hutchens • Ellen Israel
Linda Johnson and Bruce Ratner • Zachary Karabell • Patricia Fili-Krushel and Kenneth Krushel
Sandra Leong • Yvonne and Michael Marsh • Jay McInerney • Ken Miller and Lybess Sweezy • Michael Pietsch
Keri and Marvin Putnam • Alix L.L. Ritchie • Andrew Solomon and John Habich Solomon
Suzy and Sadek Wahba • Jamie Wolf
(in formation)
TO PURCHASE TABLES OR JOURNAL ADS
A limited number of tickets are available. For immediate assistance please email [email protected].
For questions about sponsorship information, please call 646-880-6116 or email [email protected].
Due to the high demand of this event, floor seating cannot be guaranteed.
Can’t make it on May 16 but still want to support PEN America?
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS
Gold
News Corp/Dow Jones/HarperCollins
Penguin Random House
Pfizer Inc.
Award Underwriters
Audible, Inc.
Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust
Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson
Leadership
Anonymous (2) • Barnes & Noble • Roxanne Donovan and Tom Scarangello
Patricia Fili-Krushel, Kenneth Krushel, Lybess Sweezy and Ken Miller
Tom Healy and Fred P. Hochberg • Hearst • Elizabeth Hemmerdinger and Alix L.L. Ritchie
Keri and Marvin Putnam, and Jamie Wolf • Katharine Rayner • Anya and Albert Salama
Salesforce • Andrew Solomon and John Habich Solomon
Benefactors
Anonymous • Arnold & Porter • Willow Bay and Robert A. Iger
Amanda Bennett and Donald Graham • Colette and Daniel Bennett
Laura Bickford and Stephen Graham • Kimberly Morgan Blank
Bloomberg Philanthropies • Bridget Colman
Deloitte • Karin and Markus Dohle • Patricia Duff and Richard D. Cohen
Embrey Family Foundation • Deirdre Finney Boylan and Jennifer Finney Boylan
FoundRae • Sheree and Jerry Friedman • Ashley Garrett and Alan Jones
Hachette Book Group • Tracy Higgins and James Leitner • Ellen Israel
Linda Johnson and Bruce Ratner • Zachary Karabell • Sean and Mary Kelly & Family
Sandra Leong • Macmillan Publishers • Caitlin Macy and Jeremy Barnum • Anne and Jay McInerney
Karen and Dennis Mehiel • Meta • The Michaels Family Foundation • Oliver Wyman
The Open Society Foundations • The Holly Peterson Foundation • Harry Ransom Center
Ann and Richard Sarnoff Family Foundation • Scholastic Inc. • Ian and Liesel Simmons
Simon & Schuster • TikTok • Ting Tsung & Wei Fong Chao Foundation
Suzy and Sadek Wahba • Maureen White and Steve Rattner
Annik and Michael Wolf/ The Activate Consulting Team • WSJ Wine
Patrons
Agnes Gund • Edelman • Hudson, an Avolta Company • The New Yorker
Friends
Jill Braufman and Daniel Nir • Brunswick Group • Candace Bushnell
Russell and Judy Carson • Brigitte and Evan Carzis • Venkat Chary, Zenon LLC
Creative Artists Agency • David Geffen Foundation • IBM
Andrea Krantz and Harvey Sawikin • Kati Marton
Nasdaq • National Basketball Association
Nederlander Organization • The New York Times
Richard Plepler and EDEN Productions • Morwin Schmookler
Darcy Stacom and Chris Kraus • Noreene Storrie and Wesley G. McCain
Tech Mahindra • Teneo • Warner Bros. Discovery • Candace King Weir
WilmerHale • YouTube
(As of April 15, 2024)