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 Welcomes House Passage of Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act
In a strong bipartisan vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act of 2021. More
On One Year Anniversary of His Arrest, Vietnamese Writer Tran Duc Thach Must Be Freed
— On the one year anniversary of Vietnamese writer Tran Duc Thach’s arrest, PEN America reiterates its call for Vietnamese authorities to release him. More
PEN America Releases Third Annual Prison Writing Anthology
PEN America today announced the release of its third annual PEN America Prison Writing Awards Anthology, this year entitled Breathe into the Ground. More
PEN America: China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey Remain World’s Top Jailers of Writers
In PEN America’s annual census of detained writers worldwide, The Freedom to Write Index, the literary and free expression group found that in 2020, at least 273 writers, academics,… More
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel to Join Oversight Board
The literary and free expression group PEN America announced today that its CEO Suzanne Nossel—a free expression expert, human rights leader, author, and lawyer—will join the Oversight Board. More
Detained Belarusian PEN Center Member Must Be Released
PEN America today called for the immediate release of Belarusian PEN Center member Aliaksandr Fiaduta, a political scientist, literary critic, and former aid to Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. More
Trial of Russian Artist Charged With “Disseminating Pornography” Begins
A Russian feminist artist and LGBTQIA+ activist is being tried this week on charges of disseminating pornography for her artwork that depicts nude bodies. More
PEN America Alarmed by Raid on Russian Student Publication
PEN America is deeply worried by reports of a raid on the offices of Doxa, a student-run journal based in Moscow, and on the residences of its staff that… More
PEN America Welcomes Release of Turkish Journalist Ahmet Altan
PEN America today welcomed the news that Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan has been released from prison after spending more than four years behind bars. More
PEN America Concerned by Continued Harassment of Russian Anti-Corruption Journalist
PEN America called a reopened criminal case into Russian investigative reporter Roman Anin “a highly concerning threat to free expression and to journalists in Russia.” More