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PEN America Mourns the Death of Groundbreaking Irish Author Edna O’Brien
O’Brien won the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, and spoke that year at the PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony. Judges Michael Ondaatje and Diana Abu-Jaber cited… More
PEN America: Injunction Against Part of Florida’s Stop WOKE Act is a Victory for Free Speech
“This ruling is a victory for free speech and proves Florida is not in fact where ‘woke’ goes to die,” said Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America’s Florida office.… More
Local no longer: 4 new laws and policies bring book banning to the state level
A new spate of state laws and policies is giving lie to the idea that banning books is about families making decisions for their own children. More
PEN America Speaks: How We Defended And Celebrated Free Expression the Week Of July 22
Here are some of the latest ways PEN America defended and celebrated free expression in the week of July 15. More
University of Alabama campuses didn’t have to close their DEI offices. They did anyway.
The closures are a textbook example of how universities ought not to respond to educational censorship: banning offices and concepts via administrative overcompliance that are not banned by law. More
The Fighters Who Narrate: Iranian Writer Sepideh Rashnu on the Eve of Her Incarceration
Dissidents like Sepideh Rashnu embody the role that writers and artists often play in defending human rights in places like Iran. More
What We’re Doing about Disinformation in 2024
This moment calls for innovative approaches to tackling false information, and PEN America is ready to support journalists, policy makers, and communities across the country. More
PEN America condemns the sentencing of Alsu Kurmasheva to 6.5 years in prison
(NEW YORK, NY) — PEN America strongly condemns the sentencing by a Russian court of Alsu Kurmasheva to 6.5 years in prison. A Prague-based book editor and a journalist… More
PEN America Signs Joint Letter to President Biden in Advance of Meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu
PEN America joins with other NGOs to request that, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, DC, the week of July 22, President Biden urges the government… More
“Thank you for not giving up on Florida”: A rallying cry at the Unified Voices Summit in Orlando
Last weekend, superheroes of education and civic engagement turned out by the hundreds in Orlando to stand against Gov. DeSantis and other other elected leaders who are censoring and… More