NEW YORK—PEN America has announced that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver the 2018 Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, followed by a conversation with author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on April 22, the closing night of the 14th annual PEN World Voices Festival.
The theme of this year’s Festival—beginning April 16 and comprising more than 60 events across New York City—is Resist and Reimagine. The line-up will draw on global experiences, perspectives, and narratives to help light the way toward surmounting current crises here at home. At a time of unprecedented threats to free speech, open discourse, and the rights of historically marginalized groups, Secretary Clinton will draw on her experience as the nation’s top diplomat and her career in politics to underline the centrality of free speech—broadly defined and vociferously defended—in sustaining healthy democracies and vibrant societies. Clinton has shown a life-long commitment to amplifying lesser-heard voices and buttressing safeguards for free expression.
Following the lecture, celebrated Nigerian-born novelist and non-fiction writer Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, and We Should All Be Feminists, among others), an immigrant to the U.S., a champion of unheard stories, and a feminist, will engage Clinton in conversation. This dialogue between two strong advocates for women and girls—one from politics and diplomacy, the other from literature—promises unique insights into how we might imagine a better future for women and girls around the world.
Named for playwright Arthur Miller, a fierce advocate for free expression and longtime leader of PEN, the annual lecture is a hallmark of the Festival. In past years, the Freedom to Write Lecture has been delivered by Umberto Eco, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, Wole Soyinka, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The event will take place at The Great Hall, Cooper Union, on Sunday, April 22 at 7pm. Tickets for this and all Festival events are available at worldvoicesfestival.org.
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PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. pen.org
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Blake Zidell (Blake Zidell & Associates): [email protected], 718.643.9052