Book restrictions are contrary to the First Amendment
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May 17, 2023
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** PEN America v. Book Bans: the Lawsuit
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This morning, PEN America, a diverse group of authors, and Penguin Random House joined with parents and students from Escambia County, Florida, to file a federal lawsuit challenging removals and restrictions of books from school libraries that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.
Learn more about the lawsuit ([link removed])
Sign a letter of support ([link removed])
PEN DEFENDS
Imprisoned Iranian Writer to receive PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award
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Targeted by the Iranian government for more than 30 years for her writings and human rights activism, Narges Mohammadi is currently jailed on false charges of “spreading anti-state propaganda” and defamation. “They will put me in jail again,” she wrote in her book, White Torture ([link removed]) . “But I will not stop campaigning until human rights and justice prevail in my country.”
Learn more about Narges Mohammadi >> ([link removed])
World Voices Festival Highlight: Ta-Nehisi Coates on censoring history
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In the 2023 World Voices Festival’s keynote lecture, Ta-Nehisi Coates placed the censorship now sweeping the United States into a larger historical legacy, and stressed the need to consider free speech as part of a constellation of rights that are under attack, including bodily autonomy and voting rights. Coates' keynote address was a highlight of a stellar lineup of more than 100 authors in New York and Los Angeles.
Watch Coates' lecture >> ([link removed])
Read more Festival highlights>> ([link removed])
PEN UNITES
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HOW TO BE AN ALLY WHEN YOU WITNESS ONLINE ABUSE
Monday, June 12, 2023 | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
Virtual Event
In this free, one-hour, interactive training, we’ll give you the tools you need to intervene safely and effectively in online abuse using Right To Be’s ([link removed]) 5Ds of bystander intervention.
REGISTER FOR JUNE 12 ([link removed])
PEN READS
Ottessa Moshfegh asks, 'Why Write?'
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In the PEN World Voices Festival opening night event, Ottessa Moshfegh spoke with novelists Rachel Kushner (The Mars Room, Flamethrowers), Min Jin Lee (Pachinko, Free Food for Millionaires), and Akhil Sharma (Family Life, A Life of Adventure and Delight) discussed why they write and how they respond to the moral discourse of the day.
Watch the entire discussion >> ([link removed])
Spotlight on PEN Members
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Through a series of poems preoccupied with loneliness and mortality, by PEN America Member Deborah Landau flashes with prismatic effect across the persistent allure of the flesh. Shrugging off her own anxiety and disillusionment with characteristic humor and pitch-perfect cadence, Landau finds levity in pyrotechnic lines, sonic play, and a wholly original language, asking: "Any way outta this bag of bones?" Shrugging off her own anxiety and disillusionment with characteristic humor and pitch-perfect cadence, Landau finds levity in pyrotechnic lines, sonic play, and a wholly original language, asking: "Any way outta this bag of bones?"
Check out Skeletons >> ([link removed])
View 2023 publications by PEN America Members >> ([link removed])
PEN SPEAKS
* Our Summer Lopez outlined the new tactics being employed by those attempting to rewrite history by threatening publishers. (Time ([link removed]) )
* Jonathan Friedman was quoted about the spread of legislative proposals targeting books for removal. (The Tennessean ([link removed]) )
* Author and poet Jose Olivarez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf discuss the World Voices Festival's featured writers, works and mission. (WNYC ([link removed]) )
* Ayad Akhtar and Eboo Patel spoke about the tension between protecting marginalized groups and freedom of expression ahead of their panel, Matters of Offense. (WNYC ([link removed]) )
WHAT WE'RE READING
* She Offered a LGBTQ-themed Book to her Middle Schoolers. Parents Filed a Police Report (Today ([link removed]) )
* The 15 Most Banned Books in America This School Year (MSN ([link removed]) )
* Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Launching All-Out Assault on Academic Freedom (The New Republic ([link removed]) )
* Two Moms Are at the Center of the Fight Against Book Banning in America: ‘It’s Exhausting’ (Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) )
* The Mission to Preserve a Language by Getting it onto Google Translate. (rest of world ([link removed]) )
“I think you have to put a piece of your heart in all of your characters, even the despicable ones”
** -R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface
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TRENDING @ PENAMERICA
Can you determine why Everywhere Babies was banned?
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That is the question we asked passersby in NYC during the World Voices Festival. This charming picture book, written by Susan Meyers and illustrated by Marla Frazee, designed to be shared with the youngest of readers, was challenged in multiple Florida counties. The reason is a common thread among book restrictions and challenges across the country.
Watch the video >> ([link removed])
Can you spare 5 minutes to help us improve the PEN America website? Your input will help us enhance how people find the information they need on the site and, ultimately, our ability to protect free expression. Just a few questions >> ([link removed])
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