Don’t Censor America: Vote for Books |
With less than a week until the presidential election, we revealed that Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes was the most banned book of the 2023-24 school year. It follows the unfolding of a school shooting – but that’s not what book banners find offensive. Jodi joined us to put it forcefully: Books are on the ballot. Stay tuned for our full report on school book bans, and join us in demanding an end to censorship. |
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Your Election Disinformation Toolkit
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In the next week, we can expect a flood of disinformation, or false information disseminated with the intent to deceive. Disinformation isn’t new, but it’s more specific, targeted and sophisticated than it used to be, especially with the advancement of generative AI. The latest from PEN America’s disinformation team covers how disinformation spreads, and how to develop a healthy news diet and guard against the spread of falsehoods. |
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In our latest Facts Forward interviews, catch BBC Climate journalist Marco Silva dispelling misinformation related to climate change, Dannagal Young, a professor and director of Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware specializing in the psychology of politics, and Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia, on how volunteers keep the space disinformation free. |
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Nightmare in the Caucasus |
Once a post-Soviet era burgeoning democracy, Georgia appears to be sliding back into an authoritarian regime with serious curbs on free expression and cultural independence, especially following the latest elections. Georgian writers Ekaterina Tognidze and Lasha Bugadze along with Polina Sadovskaya met with U.S. officials and while in New York, Togonidze spoke to PEN America staff, joined via video by PEN Georgia president, Khatuna Tskhadadze.
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Announcing the 2024 Prison Writing Awards Winners |
The PEN America Prison Writing Committee recognizes outstanding voices of incarcerated writers with annual awards in the genres of poetry, fiction, essay, memoir, and drama. This year, the committee selected 35 winners from over a thousand entries received from carceral facilities all across the United States. The winners will be published in an anthology, forthcoming this winter. |
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Dreaming Out Loud applications open Nov. 1
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DREAMing Out Loud is a paid, tuition-free creative writing workshop series for migrant writers in which participants develop original short stories, poetry, and/or personal essays to be performed at public readings. The program seeks to counter anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. and to amplify the voices of many living in this country who are marginalized because of their immigration status. Applications are open Nov. 1 - 30. |
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Juan Carlos Reyes and Sacha Lamb | The PEN Ten Interview |
Our latest PEN Ten interviews feature Juan Carlos Reyes, whose debut fiction collection, Three Alarm Fire (Hinton Publishing, 2024), is a unique reflection of our response to life’s emergencies, and Sacha Lamb, who draws from Jewish folklore to tell a genderqueer dybbuk story of spiritual possession set in 1870s Eastern Europe. |
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CEO Suzanne Nossel writes that laws banning DEI on campuses fly in the face of long held conservative tenets about free and open inquiry in higher education. (Inside Higher Ed)
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Florida Director Katie Blankenship writes that under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has become the epicenter of an alarming assault on core American freedoms, with free speech in the cross hairs. (Ms Magazine)
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After advocacy by PEN America and partner organizations, the book Colonization and the Wampanoag Story was returned to the nonfiction section in Montgomery County, Texas, after being re-categorized as fiction. (The Washington Post)
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Sy Sims Managing Director of U.S. Free Expression Jonathan Friedman said that the shuttering of an East Village theater after its owner, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, opposed plays it deemed “objectionable” is “nothing short of pernicious.” (AM New York)
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Friedman also spoke about a concerning application of institutional neutrality at Yale University. (Inside Higher Ed)
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Jeremy C. Young spoke about threats to higher education at a symposium co-hosted with the Magna Charta Observatory in Washington. (Inside Higher Ed)
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The Nieman Foundation at Harvard wrote about the Russian Independent Media Archive, our joint project with Bard College. (Nieman Reports)
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Florida author Laura van den Berg wrote about PEN America’s documentation of the war on books in her home state. (Harper’s Bazaar)
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Freedom to Read Program Director Kasey Meehan and Program Manager Sabrina Baeta joined events for the Freedom to Read Day of Action. (PEN America), Meehan and Laurie Halse Anderson appeared in a Swedish TV feature (TV4), Meehan spoke on the popular podcast “Bookaholic” (Bookaholic), and explained U.S. book bans to Canadians. (Radio Canada)
- Director for Digital Safety and Free Expression Viktorya Vilk spoke on a panel at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism titled “Can we stop online harassment?” (CUNY)
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Anh-Thu Vo, manager of research and advocacy for the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center, spoke at a U.N. side event hosted by the International Service for Human Rights. (PEN America)
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“This November, I’m voting for books.” |
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Are You Pro-Books? Do You Vote? Get our latest PEN America merch and wear it proudly.
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