Our new white paper shows how a groundswell of activism has helped the fight against discriminatory and censorial bills.
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Apr 3, 2024
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** Sunshine in the Forecast for Florida?
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Three years into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ aggressive push to upend basic rights— the freedom to read, learn, and speak, among others—cracks are appearing. Our new white paper, Cracks in the Facade, shows how a groundswell of activism has helped the fight against these unpopular and nakedly discriminatory and censorial bills.
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Read more in The Orlando Sentinel >> ([link removed])
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** Journalists Shouldn’t Face Abuse Alone
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Online abuse has become an occupational hazard for journalists, especially women and journalists of color. During another contentious election cycle, the problem will only get worse, threatening to silence voices already underrepresented in the news. Our new report, The Power of Peer Support, calls on the journalism industry to invest in spaces where journalists under attack online can find the support they need, especially from peers who share their background and lived experience.
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** Debating Book Restrictions in California
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Los Angeles Director Allison Lee was invited to debate the mayor of Huntington Beach, California, live in the CBS studio over a new library ordinance that creates a community committee to make kids' book selections.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
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This week’s Member Spotlight features A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up ([link removed]) by PEN America Member Margaret Wappler. Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. Only upon his death, as stories poured out online about his authenticity and kindness, did it become clear how little was known about the exceedingly humble actor and how deeply he impacted popular culture.
Check out A Good Bad Boy >> ([link removed])
View 2024 publications by PEN America Members here >> ([link removed])
PEN EVENTS
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Tuesday, April 16, 2024
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET
Virtual event
Random House Publishing Group and PEN America are proud to present internationally renowned writer, free speech advocate, and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie in conversation with Suleika Jaouad, the New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms, founder of The Isolation Journals, and subject of the Netflix documentary American Symphony. Rushdie’s new memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, is a gripping account of surviving an attempt on his life 30 years after the fatwa was ordered against him. In unforgettable detail, Rushdie is speaking out for the first time about the traumatic events of August 12, 2022.
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PEN READS
** An Interview with Prudence Peiffer
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Prudence Peiffer brings deep expertise in art history to her award-winning book The Slip. In conversation with PEN America, she spoke about the artists' community that inspired her project and what she'd ask them, given a chance.
Read the interview >> ([link removed])
PEN SPEAKS
* Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of PEN’s Writers at Risk program, traveled with two recently exiled Iranian dissidents to Geneva, joining a coalition of Iranian and international human rights organizations calling on the UN’s Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran. (PEN America ([link removed]) )
* Florida Director Katie Blankenship spoke out against Gov. Ron DeSantis signing social media restrictions for minors into law. (Tallahassee Democrat ([link removed]) )
* Julie Trebault, managing director of PEN America's Artists at Risk Connection, was in Geneva to urge the United Nations member states to demand the immediate release of artists and writers imprisoned in Cuba. (UN Web TV ([link removed]) )
* Kasey Meehan likened the ongoing fight against legislation intended to restrict what teachers can teach to a game of whack-a-mole. (Truthout ([link removed]) )
* See how PEN America defended free expression this week >> ([link removed])
WHAT WE'RE READING
* An Illustrated Guide to Spring’s New Books (T Magazine ([link removed]) )
* Even before the revolution, America was a nation of conspiracy theorists (AP ([link removed]) )
* Free Speech Is Alive and Well at Vanderbilt (The Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Fear Grows Among Families of Americans Held in Russia (The Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza (The New York Times ([link removed]) )
** "What is so scary about that book? That a child cannot ... learn the real truth that everybody poops? I don’t understand."
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** - PEN America Los Angeles Director Allison Lee, on the restrictions on the children's book, Everybody Poops
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TRENDING @ PENAMERICA
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Remember when Ron DeSantis said book bans in Florida had gone too far? After his Education Department appointed three Moms for Liberty members to a six person working group on book reviews, our Florida Director Katie Blankenship channeled her rage into this video.
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PEN America- New York:
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PEN America- Washington, DC:
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PEN America- Los Angeles:
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