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.
Russia Effectively Blackmailed Apple, Google Into Removing Voting App
Google and Apple have removed from their stores a tactical voting app from imprisoned activist Alexei Navalny and his allies after coming under pressure from the Russian government for… More
Book Ban in Pennsylvania School District Sets Troubling Precedent for Access to Diverse Literature
Students, teachers, and parents in York, PA have staged protests this month over an ongoing ban in the district of a set of books and other materials related to… More
PEN America to Honor Imprisoned Iranian Writers and Free Expression Advocates Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi at 2021 Gala
PEN America today announces three imprisoned Iranian writers and free expression advocates—celebrated poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker Baktash Abtin; novelist and journalist Keyvan Bajan; and author, literary critic, and popular… More
Artists at Risk Connection Releases New Podcast, ‘Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia’
In a limited-run podcast Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia from PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, five artists and cultural rights defenders from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the… More
Wole Soyinka, Hillary Clinton, Sandra Cisneros, Louise Penny, and Pamela Paul to Headline PEN America’s Trademark Fall Literary Event Series PEN Out Loud
PEN America today unveiled its fall season of PEN Out Loud, a literary conversation series bringing together some of the world’s top writers to engage in vital conversations. More
Threats to Participants in Hindu Nationalism Conference Risk Silencing Academic Freedom
PEN America condemns this campaign of intimidation and retaliation against writers and public intellectuals, and supports their rights to free expression and freedom of academic thought and inquiry. More
Oregon School District Bans BLM, LGBTQ+ Symbols
(New York, NY) — After moving to ban LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter symbols, a school district in Oregon is now in the midst of developing a policy to… More
PEN American Condemns Guilty Verdict in Sham Trial of Belarusian Activists
A court in Belarus’ capital Minsk this week convicted two opposition activists on politically-motivated charges of conspiracy to usurp state power. More
PEN America Condemns Nicaragua’s Ongoing Press Crackdown, Political Repression
PEN America today decried the ongoing crackdown on press and political freedom in the country in advance of elections later this year. More
PEN America Decries Russia’s Expulsion of Comedian
The Russian government this week issued an order permanently expelling Idrak Mirzalizade, a Belarusian standup comedian, from Russia in retaliation for a joke he made about racial discrimination in… More
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