In the first half of the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America documented more than 4,300 book bans across the country — a number that surpassed the entire previous academic year. Our latest Banned in the USA report highlights the stories behind those numbers, with case studies showing continued hostility toward LGBTQ+ narratives, the silencing of speech about race, and more targeting of books that contain sexual violence. We also document the rising backlash – shining a spotlight on the students and parents across the country fighting for their right to read.
Last week, we announced that Vietnamese author-blogger-journalist Pham Doan Trang will receive the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, an honor given last year to Narges Mohammadi, who went on to received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. Trang has been persecuted and jailed Trang in an effort to still her voice on democracy, human rights, environmental degradation, and women’s empowerment.
PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection in collaboration with UNESCO and co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations hosted the event “Defending Creative Voices: Protection of Artists in Times of Emergencies” at the United Nations Headquarters. Bringing together renowned experts and artists, the event raised awareness among UN Member States and civil society actors about the impact of emergency situations on writers and artists, as well as to call for enhanced coordination and comprehensive efforts to defend artistic freedom during crises.
This week’s Member Spotlight features The Shutouts by PEN America Member Gabrielle Korn. A brilliant, queer dystopian novel, The Shutouts follows a cast of characters on the margins of a strange and exclusive society. The year is 2041, and it's a dangerous time to be a woman driving across the United States alone. But Kelly's on the road anyway; she needs to get back to her daughter, who she left seven years ago for a cause she's no longer sure she believes in. Almost 40 years later, another mother, Ava, and her daughter, Brook, are on the run as well, from the climate change relief program known as The Inside Project, where they've spent the past 22 years being treated as lab rats. The Shutouts tells the captivating story of those who have been shut out from Inside, their fight to survive, and an interconnectedness larger than all of them.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
Webinar
Many of us assume that we won’t be influenced by false, misleading, and incomplete information because we’re smart, thoughtful people. But the reality is that we are all vulnerable. The reason? When we’re faced with information overload and the need to make frequent decisions, we all take mental shortcuts, and those shortcuts lead to trouble.
In this webinar, Kurt Sampsel of PEN America will provide an overview of some of the most common cognitive biases that shape how we consume information, followed by a conversation with Thomas Martinez of the Fort Worth Report and Kristy Roschke of Arizona State University about how we all can reduce the influence of cognitive biases and become more resilient consumers of news and information.
We’re proud to announce that our World Voices Festival, now in its 20th year since its founding by Salman Rushdie and others in the wake of 9/11, will feature 35 events with more than 100 writers, among them our current president Jennifer Finney Boylan with her co-author Jodi Picoult, Roxane Gay, Min Jin Lee, Patrick Radden Keefe, Rita Dove, Carmen Boullosa, James McBride, and Leigh Bardugo.
In a conversation with Suleika Jaouad, Salman Rushdie shared details of his recovery and his new memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, saying “It just became clear to me that if I didn’t face up to this, that it would actually, in a way, kill me. ... So if I wanted to actually not be killed artistically, I had to face this."
Lisa Grunwald was forced to grapple with her own assumptions in exploring the 1925 Scopes trial from “the other side” for her new novel, The Evolution of Annabel Craig. In an interview with Jeremy C. Young, PEN America’s Freedom to Learn program director, Grunwald discussed the value of looking at a major historical event through the lens of one woman’s experiences, and the importance of challenging one’s beliefs and keeping an open mind.
Freedom to Read Program Director Kasey Meehan spoke to NPR about librarians in Prattville, Alabama, who lost their jobs over book challenges. (NPR)
Florida Director Katie Blankenship wrote that a groundswell of activism has helped the fight against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ aggressive push to upend basic rights — the freedom to read, learn, and speak, among others. (Florida Politics)
Blankenship and Raegan Miller of the Florida Freedom to Read Project write that once again, Florida leaders side with book banners. (Tallahassee Democrat)
PEN America’s research is cited in a report about how librarians fear penalties and even prison. (AP)
Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People includes last year's PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write honoree Narges Mohammadi (Time)
With State Bans on D.E.I., Some Universities Find a Workaround: Rebranding (New York Times)
Roxane Gay: Open Letters Are Cries in the Dark (New York Times)
Saudi Arabia Is Rebranding Itself as a Moderate Country, but What’s the Truth? (The Guardian)
Several Attempts at Understanding Percival Everett (The Millions)
“I became the person who was on the one hand, the target of death, and on the other hand, the recipient of love. And that became to me the book I was writing.”
- Salman Rushdie in conversation on his new memoir
TRENDING @ PENAMERICA
Ahead of the 2024 PEN World Voices Festival, nine former PEN America presidents came together to stress the importance of maintaining dialogue.
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