(New York, NY) — PEN America reacted to the passing of acclaimed author Joan Didion.

“The loss of Joan Didion carves an enormous hole in American literature and culture,” said President of PEN America Ayad Akhtar. “From her reporting, her essays, her screenwriting, and her fiction, Didion captured the complexities and identity crises of the 20th century, all while never flinching in the face of the painful, the difficult, the absurd, the macabre. Didion charted a brave course for American writing, and all of us who practice the craft owe her an enormous debt.”