Read the Resistance

Since last fall, the term “resistance” has been employed with increasing frequency and relevance. Today, resistance includes new social movements to address infringements on press freedom, the proliferation of bigotry, and the assault on facts, on arts funding, and on human rights, among other causes. But resistance has a long and storied history that is not narrowly defined—a history that lives on in the world’s literature. 

With an eye to this wide-ranging history of resistance, PEN America is launching Read the Resistance, an online book club that highlights written works of and about acts of resistance. Each month, a renowned contemporary author will select a book that exemplifies resistance to them. Throughout the month, readers can discuss the text on Facebook where, at the end of the month, we’ll host a live conversation for readers to engage with the recommending authors. 

We hope you’ll read along and join the discussion as we celebrate and learn from these great works of resistance.

What We're Reading

Read the Resistance, July 2018: The Poet X

For this month of Read the Resistance, an online book club that highlights written works of and about resistance, we asked David Tomas Martinez, author of Hustle, to recommend a book that exemplifies… More

"On Tyranny" event graphic

Read the Resistance, August 2017: On Tyranny

Snyder has studied the past so we can understand the terrifying present…giving us necessary tools from history to chart a future that can make America great again—for everybody. More