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 Launches Digital Project Documenting COVID’s Toll on Journalism
“The goal of the project was to humanize the pandemic’s toll on journalism." More
PEN America Decries Execution of Iranian Journalist
“We are devastated and horrified to learn of Rouhollah's execution." More
University of Dallas Tables Effort to Form Racial Justice Group
"That some people consider the topics 'divisive' is hardly sufficient justification to deny students their right to assembly and association." More
Charges Against Jimmy Lai, Arrest of Haze Fan are Dual Blows Against Press Freedom
“Jimmy Lai is being treated as an enemy of the state for the apparent ‘crime’ of speaking his mind about the city he loves." More
PEN America Condemns Raid on Florida COVID Scientist’s House
(New York, NY) — Florida law enforcement with guns drawn raided the home of a former state data scientist this week who said she was fired earlier this year… More
Amid Tumultuous Year, PEN America Virtual Gala Celebrates Acts of Courage and Bravery by Those Who Stand Up to Oppression
"I’m heartened to think that this assembly of not always like-minded but always like-hearted writers and thinkers and advocates—that our assembly tonight points to our power.” More
Barack Obama Receives 2020 PEN America Voice of Influence Award, Re-Embraces His Identity as a Writer
“My politics, my public life, and my more interior writing life have never been that far apart," More
Poet’s Arrest Latest in Iran’s Crackdown on Writers
"The Iranian authorities’ detention of Amin Moradi—one of at least five members of the IWA jailed in 2020—demonstrates a pattern of baselessly portraying writers as anti-state actors in order… More
PEN America Blasts Saudi Arabia for Charging Women’s Rights Activist in Terrorism Court
“These recent developments in the case against Loujain Al-Hathloul only make more evident how bogus and blatantly retaliatory the Saudi authorities' case against her is." More
Cuban Artist Bruguera Detained and Held Overnight
"Bruguera’s arrest is just one more iteration of the Cuban government’s efforts to exert a vice-like grip over the cultural sector." More