PEN America is an organization that seeks to do something hard and something unique – to be a home for a diverse community of writers who may disagree on many things but who come together around their unequivocal belief in the value of free expression and their shared commitment to defend writers under threat. We come together because we believe writers and literature can play a critical role in upholding truth, challenging oppression, inspiring action, and driving social change.
It is in that spirit that we will present the PEN World Voices Festival and Literary Awards this spring. Last year we canceled these two events after numerous writers withdrew in protest of the organization’s response to the war in Gaza. Since then, we have listened and invested in repairing our relationships with our community.
We acknowledge that we should have done more to support Palestinian writers facing devastation from the Israeli military assault on Gaza, and to elevate their voices and stories. We apologize.
We have more to do to repair and regain the trust of not just Palestinian writers but all writers in our community. Our work is not done.
As interim co-CEOs, we want to assure you of our unshakeable commitment to a culture of free expression. We know that some people will continue to disagree with PEN America – and even boycott PEN America. That is okay. We understand how important it is for writers to speak and act on their conscience, and we are committed to protecting writers’ ability to do that without fear.
In trying to hold together this diverse community there may be times when we disappoint some of its members. We understand that this is inevitable – both in the moments when we are true to our mission, and when we fall short. We hope our community will continue to be in conversation with us, and to keep us honest.
The principles we defend are worth fighting for. This is a moment to speak out against a virulent assault on free speech from the current White House. Language is being stripped from government websites, news organizations are being retaliated against for the words they use, and Palestinian and other student activists and scholars are being threatened with deportation for their viewpoints. Today, our ideals require our active and collective defense.
In keeping with the PEN charter, which declares that “literature knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals,” we are fighting to safeguard the power of literature, stories, and ideas to cross borders and boundaries, to foster empathy and understanding, and to serve as counterweights to dehumanization and hate.
The World Voices Festival and the PEN America Literary Awards are spaces for what truly matters: that literature, those stories, and those ideas. And the writers who bring them to life.
We hope you will join us in this fight.
