Join Us for a Day of Action
Book bans continue to skyrocket across the country – with more than 10,000 in the 2023-2024 school year. This Saturday, PEN America joins Unite Against Book Bans, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and other allies to show support for the freedom to read. We hope to see you in New York, Boston, or Washington, D.C., where we’ll join a pre-screening of the first feature-length documentary about book bans, Banned Together..
Find an event near you >> [[link removed]]
Send a letter to your elected officials >> [[link removed]]
PEN America Defends
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Refining the Art of Censorship
PEN America’s latest annual report on state-level educational censorship laws aimed at colleges and universities outlines a growing and sophisticated campaign to restrict academic freedom and campus free expression in the United States. America’s Censored Classrooms 2024 warns that legislative efforts to curtail educational speech have evolved from overt gag orders banning controversial topics into new stealth tactics that threaten higher education across the nation.
Read the report >> [[link removed]]
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The Project 2025 ‘Hit List’ of Forbidden Words
Despite its explicit claim to champion free speech, the conservative policy blueprint Project 2025 would do the opposite. Our new white paper shows how the plan seeks to impose a range of new controls – including deleting terms like abortion, reproductive health, diversity, equity and inclusion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and even gender from every government document.
Read the analysis >> [[link removed]]
Calling Academics: Apply for New RIMA Grants
Our Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) is announcing three new opportunities for scholars, coordinated by Bard College [[link removed]] . The RIMA Course Development Fund offers four $2,000 grants to faculty members integrating RIMA into their curricula; the RIMA MA and Doctoral Virtual Fellowships offer $3,500 stipends for graduate students who incorporate RIMA into their theses; and the RIMA Semester Senior Fellowship offers a $6,000 stipend and a week-long visit to Bard to senior scholars and researchers who demonstrate a commitment to advancing research on independent Russian journalism and media.
Apply by Oct. 28 >> [[link removed]]
Member Spotlight
This week’s Spotlight features The Sirens of Soleil City [[link removed]] by PEN America Member Sarah Henkemeyer . West Palm Beach, 1999. Three generations of women learn to own their mistakes and rebuild their bonds as they prepare to compete in the South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition. The publicity from winning the contest, along with the ten-thousand-dollar prize money, could help save Soleil City. Over the course of a month in an apartment complex filled with feisty, funny, strong-willed women in their seventies, four women who make up an uneasy family will realize that in life, and motherhood, there isn't good and bad. There's only trying to get it right. Check out The Sirens of Soleil City >> [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
View 2024 publications by PEN America Members >> [[link removed]]
PEN America Events
Understanding Election Disinformation: What Voters Need to Know
[link removed] [[link removed]] Thursday October 17
Learn more >> [[link removed]] 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Online
Learn an overview of the key themes, motivations, and trends of current election disinformation campaigns, followed by a conversation with Maritza Félix of Conecta Arizona and Jen Fifield of Votebeat about what they’ve learned from fighting election conspiracies and providing communities with nuanced, accurate information about voting.
PEN America Reads
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Forrest Gander | The PEN Ten Interview
Forrest Gander discusses his latest, a novel-poem, Mojave Ghost (New Directions, 2024), an intimate yet thrilling tale spanning love and loss while hiking the San Andreas Fault. Gander reflects on the self, the climate, and the changing perspectives surrounding them all.
Read the Interview >> [[link removed]]
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Alejandro Zambra and Megan McDowell | The PEN Ten Interview
In Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra’s latest novel, Childish Literature (Penguin Books, 2024), he meditates on his life’s newest role–fatherhood. Zambra and his longtime translator and friend, Megan McDowell , discuss the capturing the nuances of such a personal novel.
Read the Interview >> [[link removed]]
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[link removed] [[link removed]] Mathew Ingram
Columbia Journalism Review’s Mathew Ingram talks about disinformation, polarization, and underlying beliefs fueling partisan falsehoods in a new interview with PEN America’s journalism and disinformation team.
Read the Interview >> [[link removed]]
PEN America in the News
Tim Richardson wrote about the top disinformation threats heading into the election. (The Hill)

Florida Director Katie Blankenship was given the Youth Allyship award by Prism, Florida, a youth-led nonprofit that works to expand access to LGBTQ-inclusive education. (Prism)

Jeremy C. Young spoke about our latest report, America’s Censored Classrooms 2024, in a range of media including Forbes and NPR. (Inside Higher Ed)

PEN America’s research was cited in a video explainer about book bans. (The New York Times)

Allison Lee and Sam LaFrance wrote about ethnic studies in California, focusing on a well-meaning but censorial provision that has flown under the radar in the public discourse. (Orange County Register)

We amended our lawsuit against Escambia County, Florida, after the school board returned 24 previously restricted books to school library shelves in a victory for the freedom to read. (Pen.org)
Quote of the Week
“There is no act of censorship that is more explicit than literally banning words.”
- PEN America Project 2025 White Paper
Trending on PEN America
How’s your banned book bingo card holding up? We asked people to donate $5 for every book they’ve read on the card, and, sadly, that adds up fast. Check it out >> [[link removed]]
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