Press Releases
PEN America experts are available for interviews with the press. Please direct inquiries to Suzanne Trimel, Senior Advisor, Communications and Media, at [email protected].
At a time of unprecedented attacks against the free press, PEN America Members are taking action. Join us today.
China Cracks Down on Media on Eve of Party Congress
PEN American Center today expressed alarm over tightening controls on the media in advance of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which opens Monday in Beijing. A… More
PEN, Co-Plaintiffs Settle OFAC Lawsuit
PEN joined publishing industry co-plaintiffs today in announcing that they have successfully resolved their lawsuit against the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). OFAC has revised its… More
With PEN’s Assistance, Refugee Iraqi Writers Now Safe in U.S.
PEN’s efforts to secure safe havens for threatened Iraqi writers and journalists bore fruit this past month, as two PEN colleagues and their families were flown from Syria to… More
PEN Applauds Introduction of NSL Reform Act
The Campaign for Reader Privacy, a coalition of organizations representing librarians, booksellers, publishers, and authors, cheered the introduction today of legislation to safeguard the privacy of ordinary Americans and… More
Iran Frees Scholar Kian Tajbakhsh
PEN American Center welcomed the release of Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner who was arrested at his home in Tehran on or about May 11, 2007,… More
PEN Raises Questions about the Investigation of Anna Politkovskaya’s Assassination
After almost a year with little news of the progress of the investigation into the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the arrests in late August 2007 of ten… More
District Court Strikes Down National Security Letter Provision
PEN American Center welcomed U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero’s decision striking down the amended Patriot Act's National Security Letter (NSL) provision. The ACLU challenged the law in Doe… More
PEN Welcomes Release of Haleh Esfandiari in Iran; Awaits News of Kian Tajbakhsh
PEN American Center welcomed today’s release on bail of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and also a… More
Resolution on Iraqi Refugee Crisis
Noting with profound concern the grave and growing refugee crisis precipitated by the US-led intervention in Iraq and exacerbated by the rise of terrorism and sectarian violence. More
At 73rd PEN Congress, Focus Is on PEN in Africa, Iraqi Writers & Linguistic Rights
During the first week of July, PEN held its historic International Congress in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first time in 40 years and only the second time in its… More
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