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].
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International PEN Elects New President
The International PEN Assembly of Delegates last week elected John Ralston Saul as International President. He will succeed Jirí Grušá, one of the most important Czech writers, who has… More
Book Groups Praise Reader Privacy Protections in House Patriot Act Bill
The Campaign for Reader Privacy today welcomed a new House bill that will restore important reader privacy protections that were eliminated eight years ago by the USA Patriot Act.… More
Writers Welcome Release of Maziar Bahari from Prison in Iran
Canadian-Iranian journalist and playwright Maziar Bahari was released from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on bail Saturday after spending nearly four months virtually incommunicado. PEN American Center continues to call… More
Book Groups Seek Meaningful Reader Privacy Protection
Groups representing librarians, booksellers, authors, and publishers, who have been working together for five years to restore the safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot… More
Writers Press for Accountability on Torture
Writers took the stage with lawyers and former interrogators last night to read from the mounting public record documenting the torture of detainees in U.S. custody since September 11,… More
PEN Applauds Passage of Congressional Resolution for Liu Xiaobo
Calling yesterday’s near-unanimous vote approving a Congressional resolution demanding the immediate release of critic and writer Liu Xiaobo “a critical show of solidarity from the U.S. government at a… More
PEN Protests Exclusion From U.S. of German Publisher and PEN Member
PEN American Center today issued a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano urging them to review the decision to revoke… More
Reader Privacy Advocates Welcome Patriot Act Reform Measures
The Campaign for Reader Privacy, a coalition of organizations representing librarians, booksellers, authors, and publishers, welcomed the introduction of legislation that will safeguard the First Amendment reader privacy rights… More
Amazon.com Awards Grant to PEN American Center
PEN American Center has been awarded a $25,000 grant from amazon.com to further develop its online communication resources and mobilize forces for freedom of expression throughout the world. This… More
PEN Presses Yale to Restore Images to Book on Cartoon Controversy
PEN American Center has sent a letter to the President of Yale University and the Board of the Yale Corporation urging the University to review a decision to remove… More