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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PEN America: USC Decision to Cancel Valedictorian’s Graduation Speech Amounts to “Heckler’s Veto”
PEN America’s Kristen Shahverdian, program director for Campus Free Speech, said: “This amounts to a heckler’s veto – this student should have been given the opportunity to give the… More
New Report Finds Unprecedented Surge in School Books Bans
“Students are at the epicenter of the book banning movement, and they’re fearlessly spearheading the fight against this insidious encroachment into what they can read and learn across the… More
Letter from Salman Rushdie and Past PEN America Presidents: ‘Keep Faith in the Community That We Have Built Together’
After PEN America announced its plans for its upcoming PEN America Literary Awards and the 2024 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, nine former PEN America presidents came… More
Tony Kushner to Receive PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award at April 29 Literary Awards
Tony Kushner said, “It’s intimidating enough that this honor is named after Mike Nichols, no one ever understood better than him the ways words can be made to perform.… More
Pham Doan Trang, Imprisoned Vietnamese Writer and Dissident, To Receive PEN America’s Freedom to Write Award at NYC Gala May 16
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said: “Pham Doan Trang has galvanized the Vietnamese people through her writings on democracy, human rights, environmental degradation, and women’s empowerment. The Vietnamese government… More
PEN World Voices Festival Marks Its 20th Year
PEN America will convene an array of vital voices in literature from around the globe in the 20th anniversary PEN World Voices Festival, held May 8-11 in New York… More
Georgia’s Ruling Party Reintroduces Draconian “Foreign Agent Law” Under New Name
The ruling Georgian Dream party is again pushing a so-called ‘Foreign Agent Law’ to undermine the essential and independent work of writers, cultural figures, and journalists More
Twelve Emerging Writers To Receive PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize
“This year’s recipients of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers represent the breadth of powerful short fiction published in the last year,” said Clarisse Rosaz… More
New Report Prescribes Peer Support to Help Journalists Targeted by Online Abuse
“Online abuse disproportionately impacts journalists who are people of color, women, LBGTQ+, and members of religious or ethnic minorities,” said Jeje Mohamed, coauthor of the report and PEN America’s… More
New PEN America Analysis Points to Cracks in Florida’s Censorship Campaign
Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America’s Florida office, said: “By continuing to pass bills that are a knife to the heart of our Constitutional protections, Florida lawmakers are not… More