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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Arbitrary Arrests of Six Artists and Activists in Cuba Strike at Silencing Dissent and Curtailing Artistic Freedom
“The arbitrary arrests of multiple young members of Cuba’s artistic community are part of a broader systematic effort to silence dissent and to curtail artistic freedom in the island,”… More
Celebrating Reza Khandan Mahabadi’s Release From Prison in Iran, PEN America Calls for Release of Other Iranian Writers Wrongly Jailed
Reza Khandan Mahabadi is a leading member of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA), prolific author and researcher, who was given a six-year prison term in 2019 and has been… More
Tina Fey to Receive 2023 PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award at 3/2 PEN America Literary Awards in NYC
(NEW YORK)—PEN America today announced that Tina Fey, nine-time Emmy Award winner and one of the greatest comedy writers of her generation, will receive the 2023 PEN/Mike Nichols Writing… More
PEN America Condemns Prison Summons Issued to Reza Khandan, Husband to Prominent Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh
(NEW YORK)—In response to the news that Reza Khandan--the husband of prominent human rights lawyer, writer, and PEN America 2011 Freedom to Write honoree Nasrin Sotoudeh--has been summoned to prison… More
PEN America Calls on Algeria to Release Journalist Mustapha Bendjema from Detention
“By arresting journalists and shuttering human rights organizations and independent media outlets, the Algerian government is signaling that it is doubling down on repression instead of allowing the Algerian… More
PEN America: Bill Passed by NC House Would Chill Right to Protest at a Critical Moment for Democracy
“HB 40 will harm core First Amendment rights and will create the risk that the government could use the law to restrict or deter speech it dislikes,” said Kate… More
Kal Penn to Host 60th Annual PEN America Literary Awards—“the Oscars for Books”— March 2 at New York’s Town Hall
Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, chief program officer for Literary Programming at PEN America, said, “Kal Penn epitomizes PEN America’s belief in the capacity of writers and artists to instigate social… More
PEN America Calls on Cooper Union to Reopen an Exhibit on the Legacy of Vkhutemas, a Design School Shuttered by Joseph Stalin
Kristen Shahverdian, senior manager of free expression and education, released the following comments: “Cooper Union’s decision to halt the opening of Vkhutemas: Laboratory of the Avant-Garde, 1920–1930 raises serious questions… More
Suspension of Virtual Library App by CA’s Orange Unified School District Is An Overreaction and Sets a Worrisome Precedent
Allison Lee, managing director of PEN America’s Los Angeles office, released the following comments: “The decision to immediately remove access to thousands of books for students due to a few… More
FL Governor DeSantis’ Proposals on Higher Education Pose a Grave Threat to Academic Freedom and Free Speech at Public Colleges and Universities
Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, said: “These proposals represent nothing less than an effort to substitute the dictates of elected officials… More