Ahead of the Newsom-DeSantis debate, we looked at the state of free expression in both states.
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Nov 29, 2023
(Jim Cooke/Los Angeles Times; photos via Getty Images)
** How Two States Are Driving the Agenda on Free Expression
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Ahead of the debate between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, we looked at how their two bellwether states are establishing laws and policies that may have an impact on the ability of all Americans to express themselves freely. Both states are now legislative laboratories where new policies are being tested out, and their legislation is inspiring similar proposals around the country. PEN America has undertaken an analysis of their free expression policies in a pair of reports, The Florida Effect ([link removed]) and The California Effect ([link removed]) , to discover what we can expect as a nation, especially as we approach the 2024 general election.
More in the Los Angeles Times >> ([link removed])
Read the reports >> (http:// [link removed])
PEN DEFENDS
** Free Narges Mohammadi
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In a little more than a week, Iranian activist and writer Narges Mohammadi -- who was honored with PEN America's PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in May--will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Narges is still jailed in Evin prison, and has been denied essential medical care because she refused to wear the mandatory hijab out of solidarity with young Iranian women who lost their lives. Join us and writers including Arundhati Roy, Jonathan Franzen, Margaret Atwood, and Mary Karr in a joint letter calling for Narges to be allowed to travel to reunite with her family and to receive the Nobel prize in person. Become part of our multi-faceted campaign to press for her release.
Add your name >> ([link removed])
Write a personal note of solidarity >> ([link removed])
Read Karin Karlekar's op-ed in Ms. magazine >> ([link removed])
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
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This week’s Member Spotlight features Conversations with Birds ([link removed]) by PEN America Member Priyanka Kumar. Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar's perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloging species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, for Kumar, birds “become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world.”
Check out Conversations with Birds >> ([link removed])
View 2023 publications by PEN America Members >> ([link removed])
PEN EVENTS
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Monday, December 11, 2023 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET
Scholastic- 130 Mercer Street New York, NY 10012
Also join via livestream
Join us on for this year’s PEN America Annual General Meeting, Conversation Amid Crisis: Sustaining Dialogue in Divided Times, as we interrogate the challenge of keeping civic discourse alive amid deep schisms. This panel discussion will examine not the conflict in the Middle East per se, but rather its ripple effects on the cultural, academic, and literary ecosystem back home. Through this conversation, we will endeavor to cultivate a space where writers and thinkers can navigate fraught topics by demonstrating a willingness to listen, engage, learn, and even narrow differences if possible.
Learn More ([link removed])
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Speaking Up of Staying Silent: Rethinking Institutional Speech
Thursday, Dec. 7 | 2:00 pm ET
Online
In the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict many institutions grappled with whether to make public statements about their institutional values. Many statements (or lack of statements) were poorly received, or leaders were pushed to make a second, or even a third restatement on the events – leading many leaders to rethink the merits of using their voice. Join a panel hosted by the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement and PEN America and moderated by Lara Schwartz. Panelists include leaders Neijma Celestine-Donnor, John Silvanus Wilson, and Tom Ginsburg.
Learn More ([link removed])
PEN READS
** Laurie Halse Anderson: Speaking for the Voiceless
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Laurie Halse Anderson’s celebrated young adult novel Speak tells the story of Melinda, a high school student who stops speaking after a sexual assault. Speak was a National Book Award finalist. It was also an immediate target for censors. Anderson spoke to PEN America about censorship and the danger of trying to protect kids from reading stories that reflect their realities.
Read the interview >> ([link removed])
** Celebrating and Uplifting Indigenous Voices
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To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, we turned to Oscar Hokeah, winner of the prestigious 2023 PEN/Hemingway Award for Calling for a Blanket Dance, and Morgan Talty, winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for his debut short story collection, Night of the Living Rez. Spend some time this month reading stories from indigenous voices.
See Oscar Hokeah's list >> ([link removed])
See Morgan Talty's list >> ([link removed])
More on Bookshop >> ([link removed])
PEN SPEAKS
* Suzanne Nossel wrote about a free speech fix for divided campuses. (The Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha was released in Gaza, likely because of public pressure, including from The New Yorker and PEN America. (The New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Jonathan Friedman called USC's decision to bar a professor from teaching over anti-Hamas statements "a shocking overreaction." (Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) )
* Shannon Jankowski criticized Elon Musk's lawsuit against Media Matters for America's reporting that big name advertisers appeared next to antisemitic content on X. (Wired ([link removed]) )
WHAT WE'RE READING
* When Your Own Book Gets Caught Up in the Censorship Wars (The New Yorker ([link removed]) )
* Notable Books of 2023 (The New York Times ([link removed]) ; Time ([link removed]) ; NPR ([link removed]) ; Publishers Weekly ([link removed]) ; Barnes and Noble ([link removed]) ; New York Public Library ([link removed]) )
* Imprisoned Nobel Winner Narges Mohammadi Speaks With Angelina Jolie (Time ([link removed]) )
** "The majority of Iranian society opposes compulsory hijab, yet the government kills, imprisons, and deprives women of employment and social rights for not conforming with that compulsion."
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** - Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi
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TRENDING @ PENAMERICA
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Our Banned Book Giveaway with P!nk!
We teamed up with Grammy-winning pop star P!nk to give away 2,000 banned books at her Miami-area concerts and spread the word about book bans, especially in Florida, which accounted for more than 40% of book bans in the 2022-2023 school year.
Check it out >> ([link removed])
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PEN America- Washington, DC:
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PEN America- Los Angeles:
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