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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Groundbreaking Essay Anthology on Writing Behind Bars Published
Today marks the publication of The Sentences that Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket Books), gathering stories and writing guidance from some of today’s most exciting… More
PEN America Mourns “Utterly Preventable Death” of Baktash Abtin
(New York, NY) — Imprisoned Iranian poet, filmmaker, and recipient of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award Baktash Abtin died in a Tehran hospital, succumbing to COVID-19. “Our worst… More
Iran Must Release those Unjustly Detained and Not Deny Medical Care to Prisoners, Says Coalition of Organizations led by PEN America
Today PEN America and eighteen other prominent human rights organizations sent a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of… More
PEN America Calls for Release of Writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
On December 28, 2021, award-winning writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was detained by Ugandan security forces and taken into unlawful detention without charges or explanation. More
PEN America Calls for Release of Ukrainian Theater Director Yevhen Lavrenchuk
PEN America called for the immediate release of Ukrainian theater director Yevhen Lavrenchuk, who has been detained in Italy since December 17 following an extradition request to Interpol from… More
PEN America Condemns Internet Shutdown in Kazakhstan
“This blackout is a blatant attack on freedom of expression by the government of Kazakhstan,'' said Polina Sadovskaya, PEN America’s Eurasia director. More
PEN America Demands Release of Baktash Abtin
After contracting COVID-19 in prison for a second time, 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write honoree Baktash Abtin is now in a medically-induced coma. More
ARC Condemns Arrest of Singer Denise Ho by Hong Kong National Police
Earlier today, Hong Kong’s National Police arrested singer and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho at her home on suspicion of violating the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance by allegedly conspiring to release… More
PEN America Mourns Passing of E. O. Wilson
"As a scientist, E.O. Wilson inspired generations with his curiosity, rigorous research, and passion for discovery," said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, senior director of Literary Programs at PEN America. More
PEN America Condemns Sentencing of Historian Yury Dmitriev
Today, a court in Russia sentenced the historian and leader of a regional branch of the human rights organization Memorial Yury Dmitriev to 15 years in a penal colony. More
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