An older woman with long gray hair and blue eyes, smiling gently, wearing a dark jacket and a purple scarf, with a light gray background.

Suzanne Trimel

Senior Advisor, Communications and Media

Suzanne Trimel rejoined PEN America as a senior communications and media advisor in 2022 after a previous 2019 consultancy in communications and development. She has extensive experience working with organizations to drive ideas into the public conversation on priorities ranging from higher education and global human rights to health, science, and the environment.

A journalist for a decade in New York and Washington, where she covered economics and was weekend news editor for United Press International, she served as vice president for public affairs at Barnard College and earlier, associate director of public affairs at Columbia University overseeing science and technology communications from the late 1990s to 2008. She then joined Amnesty International as U.S. media director where her work focused on human rights campaigns and social justice in the U.S. and abroad. In recent years, she has worked as director of communications at Outright Action International and as a consultant on branding, public relations and media and as a writer and communications consultant with global NGOs including the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, the International Budget Partnership, and the Hearing Health Foundation.


Articles by Suzanne Trimel

A woman in a maroon suit speaks at a podium with a microphone. The podium displays the Eleanor Roosevelt Center logo. The background is dark with vertical blue accents and there is a photo credit in the top left corner.
Banned BooksU.S. Free Expression
Wednesday October 15

With the Spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt as Backdrop, Book Bans Take Center Stage at Literary Awards Recognizing Authors for Their Courage

“We’re going to lend our own loud and colorful voices to pay tribute to the rule breakers, to the troublemakers, to the system shakers.”

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U.S. Free Expression
Monday September 8

In a Lifetime of Causes, Eleanor Roosevelt Stood for the Freedom to Read 

PEN America will co-present the Eleanor Roosevelt awards for bravery in literature—celebrating 11 champions of intellectual freedom.

A person at a crowded outdoor protest holds a colorful sign reading “Power to the People. No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!” People in jackets and rain gear are visible in the background.
Banned BooksU.S. Free Expression
Wednesday August 27

Dissent, Protest and Social Movements are Indelibly American. So Why Are Schools Banning Books on these Topics?

Censoring history is unlikely to stop their core human urge to speak out against unfairness they may find in their own lives.

More Articles by Suzanne Trimel

A black and white photo showing a group of people holding and reading books, with their faces partially out of focus or cropped out of the frame.
U.S. Free ExpressionLiterary CommunityOnline Abuse & Digital Safety
Thursday May 29

As Threats and Harassment of Authors Spill Over Into Bookstore Appearances, Safety Experts Offer Guidance

Three speakers sit on stage during a panel discussion at the PEN America World Voices Festival, with an audience watching. A large screen behind them displays the event name, World Voices Festival: for the love of books.
World Voices Festival
Thursday May 22

Two Acclaimed Authors Look Back at Their Older Books, Now in Reprint

Logos of organizations: PEN America, Gannett, The New York Times, ProPublica, Vox Media, The Washington Post, NPR, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and CIR, against a light gray background.
U.S. Free Expression
Wednesday April 2

PEN America Joins News Organizations Asking a Federal Court to Apply a State Anti-SLAPP Law

A person sits at a desk in a room filled with bookshelves. The shelves are packed with various books and games. A sign with Mom! is visible, along with a poster of a dog. The desk has assorted papers and items.
Banned BooksU.S. Free Expression
Friday February 7

A Passion for Books Sparks a Fight for Their Survival as School Censorship Rises

Banned BooksEducational CensorshipU.S. Free Expression
Tuesday September 17

Author Rex Ogle, Joined by Library Advocates, to Speak at PEN Utah Banned Book Week Event 9/23

Banned BooksU.S. Free Expression
Tuesday September 17

Paper Weavings Created from Banned Books to be Displayed 9/22-11/24 at Magic City Books, Tulsa

A person with short gray hair and a gray sweater sits in front of bookshelves, next to the book cover for Books Through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement, featuring a stylized prison bar design.
Prison and Justice Writing
Friday March 15

New Book Examines Why Reading Matters in America’s Prisons and How Ordinary Citizens Can Make a Difference

A man in a suit and purple tie appears on a Fox News channel broadcast. The lower screen shows a news ticker with partial text that reads, OLD GLENN MOORE IN THE HEAD WITH A BASEBALL.
Florida
Friday January 19

Conservative Commentator Bill O’Reilly Hits the Roof Over His Books Being Banned in Florida

A woman with long blonde hair and a green patterned sleeveless top stands indoors near a window, with natural light illuminating her face and a stone wall visible in the background.
Organizational
Monday December 11

Jennifer Finney Boylan on PEN America, the Crisis for Free Expression and the Power of Storytelling

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin in colonial attire is shown on the left; on the right is the modern, windowless facade of the American Philosophical Society Library in Philadelphia.
U.S. Free Expression
Friday June 30

Celebrate America’s Founding Bibliophiles on the First Day of July!

Two people sit on stage in conversation at the PEN America World Voices Festival. One, holding a microphone and wearing a leather jacket, smiles and laughs as the other gestures toward them.
World Voices Festival
Saturday May 13

2023 PEN America World Voices Festival: Day 3 Highlights

A man in a dark suit holds papers and stands on stage in front of a microphone, with colorful geometric shapes and the words pen., WorkVoices, and World Voices Festival 2023 displayed on a screen behind him.
World Voices Festival
Friday May 12

2023 PEN America World Voices Festival: Day 2 Highlights

A woman in a pink, one-shoulder ruffled dress stands in front of a repeating PEN America The Freedom to Write backdrop at an event.
Literary Awards
Wednesday March 8

From Movie Star to Book Translator, Molly Ringwald Makes a Splash (In Pink) at the PEN America Literary Awards

A woman with curly hair, dressed in black, sits in a chair holding a microphone and speaking on stage. Behind her are tall, shiny organ pipes and purple lighting.
Global Free Expression
Thursday February 2

Scholar-Author Imani Perry on Listening Deeply, Turning 50, Writing About Historical Atrocities and Being a Mother

A copy of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” stands upright with flames in the foreground. Text reads: “Penguin Random House presents The Unburnable Book. unburnablebook.com. Sotheby’s. PEN America.”.
Banned BooksGalaGlobal Free ExpressionU.S. Free Expression
Monday May 23

Margaret Atwood Unveils Fireproof Copy of Bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale To Be Auctioned by Sotheby’s in Support of PEN America