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Jan 8, 2025
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PEN America Leaders Look to 2025
In the face of mounting threats to free expression in the United States and globally, PEN America leaders said that it’s essential to unite the literary community – and expressed a commitment to listen to Members in the year ahead. At the organization's Annual General Meeting, Interim co-CEOs Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf outlined priorities for the coming year and provided details on work that has happened behind the scenes to support Palestinian writers and artists.
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Four Big Threats for Higher Ed
The GOP victory in the 2024 election will have major implications for academic freedom, free speech, and university autonomy in American higher education. PEN America experts Jeffrey Adam Sachs and Jeremy C. Young caution that many recent proposals aimed at restricting ideas on campus are now more likely to become law or policy. They outline what could be on the horizon at the federal level in 2025 – and how to resist the threats.
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Echoes of the ‘Red Scare’
[link removed] [[link removed]] As a young English professor in the 1960s, Harry Keyishian was asked to sign a “loyalty” oath declaring that he had never been a member of the Communist Party. Keyishian refused and lost his job – but won something far more lasting. Keyishian became the lead plaintiff in Keyishian v. Board of Regents [[link removed]] , a landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that established academic freedom [[link removed]] as a “special consideration” that afforded professors at least as much freedom of speech as other citizens. In conversation with Jeremy C. Young , Keyishian said he sees echoes of his fight in today’s battles over educational gag orders.
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Remembering Baktash Abtin
The Iranian poet Baktash Abtin should never have been in a rank, overcrowded jail that was a known breeding ground for infection. Unjustly imprisoned and shackled to his bed, he contracted the disease that left him with a fever and cough and would eventually kill him. Today, three years after Abtin’s death in custody, the Iranian authorities continue to subject writers and political prisoners to similar fates.
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Submit to PEN America U.S. Writers Aid Initiative
[link removed] [[link removed]] The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative assists fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, playwrights, translators, and journalists in addressing short-term financial emergencies. The 2024 application cycle is closing soon. If you need assistance, be sure to apply by January 10.
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A Year of Books by PEN America Members [link removed] [[link removed]]
Last year, PEN America members published more than 100 works, including essays, translations, poetry collections, graphic novels, and more. Help us celebrate their accomplishments!
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The Benefits of Membership
Did you know that members of PEN America gain access to exclusive events, networking opportunities, and discounts offered by our partners including Media News Group, Office Depot Partners, ZipCar, Theatre Development Fund, and more?
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Give the Gift of Membership
Do you have aspiring writer friends, family members, colleagues, or students? To kick-off the new year, consider giving the gift of PEN America membership! In addition to being fully tax-deductible , your gift also supports PEN America's mission to defend free expression, fight against censorship, and celebrate creative freedom.
Gift a membership today >> [[link removed]]
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Join us >> [[link removed]] Mon. January 13, 2025
6:00 PM PT
As the inauguration date approaches, many Americans are asking: Where do we go from here? How do we move forward? Join us for a powerful discussion on the importance of solidarity in times of political crisis and uncertainty.
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Join us >> [[link removed]] Mon. January 13, 2025
6:00 PM PT
Learn about influencers in today’s media environment in conversation with journalist Robert Downen, actress and activist Malynda Hale, and podcast creator and host Bridget Todd .
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Join us >> [[link removed]] Wednesdays in February
You Are A Writer is a series of free online workshops for early career writers. The series will introduce topics that are foundational to understanding and launching a literary career. This year’s series is dedicated to creative nonfiction writing and the stories we tell.
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Apply Now to the Emerging Voices Fellowship
We are accepting applications for the 2025 Emerging Voices Fellowship, given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers “from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world.” Nine fellows will receive $1,500 and participation in a virtual five-month mentorship program that includes one-on-one mentorship with an established writer; introductions to editors, agents, and publishers; a professional headshot; and a one-year PEN America membership.
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The PEN Ten Interviews
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The latest PEN Ten interviews feature award-winning author Gu Byeong-Mo, whose latest novel Apartment Women (translated by Chi-Young Kim ) offers a sharp critique of gender roles, parenthood, and shared responsibilities; Shane Jordan, whose picture book The Rainbow Parade: A Celebration of LGBTQIA+ Identities and Allies is a beautifully illustrated story of love and self-acceptance; award-winning journalist and author Karina Sainz Borgo , whose latest novel No Place to Bury the Dead is inspired by true accounts of the migrant crises; and Lyle C. May, whose first book, Witness: An Insider’s Narrative of the Carceral State, was written while on death row in North Carolina.
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* Tat Bellamy-Walker , program manager of Digital Safety Training and Resources, spoke on a panel called “What are my Digital Protections” with the Director of Digital Safety at The New York Times, María Salazar Ferro , and Washington D.C. lawyer, Greg Lipper . ( PEN.org [[link removed]] )


* Freedom to Read Program Director Kasey Meehan spoke about new state laws protecting librarians as book bans soar. ( Stateline [[link removed]] )


* PEN America consultant Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson will be honored with the first-ever Children’s Book Council Free Speech Award for her pioneering work documenting book bans. ( Publishers Weekly [[link removed]] )


* PEN America urged the Supreme Court to strike down a U.S. law banning TikTok, joining the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Free Press in an amicus brief. ( Reuters [[link removed]] )


* In recognition of her work at New College, Amy Reid , PEN America’s Freedom to Learn senior manager was named one of Ms. Magazine’s 25 Top Feminists of 2024, alongside Kamala Harris, Caitlin Clark, Taylor Swift, and more. ( Ms. Magazine [[link removed]] )


* PEN America facilitated a conversation between author Margaret Atwood and Narges Mohammadi , the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree, for TIME magazine [[link removed]] .


* Viktorya Vilk , director for digital safety and free expression, spoke about the threats to press freedom from the incoming Trump administration. ( The Associated Press [[link removed]] )


* Katie Blankenship , Florida senior director and counsel, said the ABC News $16 million settlement with Trump “sends a message to be quiet.” ( Variety [[link removed]] )


* Timothy Richardson, program director of Journalism and Disinformation, spoke about increased attacks against journalists and the weaponization of the levers of government to suppress free speech. ( The i Paper [[link removed]] )


* Director of State and Higher Education Policy Jeremy C. Young and Amy Reid were both quoted in an article about the gambit at New College in Florida. ( In These Times [[link removed]] )


* PEN America’s research guided an article about how as children’s book bans soar, sales are down and librarians are afraid, even in California. ( Los Angeles Times [[link removed]] )


* We hosted the culminating, public virtual event for our pilot writing program, Poets Across Lines , with poets sharing work about their communities and around the themes of Housing, Immigration, and LGBTQIA+ identity. Read the zine >> [[link removed]]


* PEN America Los Angeles convened our December Emerging Voices Workshop , a one-week intensive that serves writers following non-traditional pathways and from underrepresented communities. See the photos >> [[link removed]]
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“I believe The Handmaid's Tale is an eternal work, especially if we understand and accept the idea that when women lose control over fundamental aspects of their lives -- such as their clothing, bodies, and choices -- through anti-women laws, it paves the way for oppressive regimes to take hold.”
- Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi , in conversation with Margaret Atwood for TIME magazine
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[link removed] [[link removed]] The 11 Most Banned Books
The most banned books in the 2023-2024 school year include bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes , about the moments leading up to a school shooting, John Green’s Looking for Alaska , and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale .
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