Lisa Tolin

Editorial Director

Lisa Tolin is the Editorial Director at PEN America, where she has expanded editorial production, launched video, and increased engagement on social media. Previously, Lisa was Head of Special Projects for TODAY Digital at NBC News, where she launched new content verticals and newsletters, oversaw SEO content strategy, and spearheaded new projects to turn the digital presence of the “Today” show into a leading lifestyle brand. She previously served as Supervising Editor for the Health, Wellness and Parents verticals at NBCNews.com and TODAY.com.

Lisa spent more than a decade at The Associated Press, managing departments in lifestyles and entertainment news after providing leadership to a team that launched asap, a vertical focused on the millennial audience, and working as supervising national editor and supervisor on the national news desk.

Lisa’s debut picture book, How to Be a Rock Star, illustrated by Daniel Duncan, published in August 2022 with G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Her next, Can You Imagine? The Life and Art of Yoko Ono, publishes in 2025 with Atheneum.


Articles by Lisa Tolin

Disinformation
Wednesday October 2

7 Top Election Year Disinformation Dangers, According to Experts

To discuss the serious dangers of disinformation ahead of Election Day, PEN America brought together top journalists and experts to shre the trends that worry them most.

Banned Books
Wednesday October 2

Banned Books Week 2024: PEN America Rallies to Turn the Page on Book Bans

Writers, readers, and activists gathered across the country for Banned Books Week 2024 to defend the right to read.

Global Free Expression
Friday August 30

PEN America’s Russian Independent Media Archive: Preserving Words of Those Who Can’t Speak

PEN America’s Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) – a project developed in partnership with Bard College – is a searchable database that preserves more than two decades of work by independent Russian reporters and editors whose newspapers, websites, magazines and television stations have been destroyed or sent into exile.

More Articles by Lisa Tolin

Wednesday August 28

In Preparing for Protests, Are Campuses Going Too Far?

Banned Books
Friday June 14

Celebrating the Right to Read: Bestselling Authors Stand Up to Censorship

Writing as Craft
Wednesday April 17

Salman Rushdie on His New Memoir: ‘I Had to Face This’

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Thursday February 1

‘The Color Purple’ and 30 Other Banned and Challenged Books You Should Be Watching

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Friday January 26

Khaled Hosseini Shares Heartfelt Letter to Book Banners

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Friday January 19

At Harvard, a Summit for Free Expression

FloridaOrganizational
Tuesday January 9

More than 1,600 books banned in Escambia County, Florida

Tuesday January 2

Nearly 700 books, including celebrity bestsellers, banned in Orange County, Florida

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Tuesday December 12

PEN America Town Hall: Conversation Amid Crisis

Friday December 1

Yes, Florida Bans Books: Why Can’t Gov. Ron DeSantis Read His Own List?

Thursday November 30

Interview: Roxane Gay Has Some Opinions

U.S. Free ExpressionBanned Books
Tuesday November 21

Laurie Halse Anderson: Speaking for the Voiceless

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Thursday October 19

These 450 Books Were Banned in Iowa

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Thursday October 5

The Resistance: How George M. Johnson’s Family Stopped a Book Ban

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Thursday September 21

The 11 Most Banned Books of the 2022-2023 School Year

Educational Censorship
Wednesday August 23

Teachers and Librarians Describe a Climate of Fear Stoked By New Laws

Organizational
Thursday June 22

PEN America’s Writers in the Schools Committee