In The Shining Mountains by PEN America Member Alix Christie, the real history of the American West is revealed in all its terror, beauty, and complexity. This epic family saga brilliantly limns a world now long forgotten—blended cultures seeking allies, trading furs for guns and steel, and a way of life in collision with westward colonial expansion.

Tue. March 11, 2025
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
Online webinar

In this session, we will share strategies for navigating online abuse if it happens to you or someone you know. We will discuss practical tips for documenting and reporting abuse, examples of creative counterspeech, approaches to building a supportive cyber community and concrete ways to be an effective ally.

Sat. March 29, 2025
3:20 PM – 4:35 PM PT
@ AWP Conference in Los Angeles

What counts as a powerful female narrative in our current cultural landscape? Why do stories around female identity, rights to our bodies, and education, spark so much controversy? How do we engage our audiences in these conversations?

Bullying Schools on DEI
The Department of Education sent a letter threatening to withhold funding from educational institutions that engage in DEI activities – part of a broader campaign to impose its own form of indoctrination on schools and colleges. After PEN America and others criticized the letter, the department softened its directive. (USA Today)

Keeping Ukrainian Memories Alive
War turned one children’s author into a chronicler of horrors; it turned another writer into a war crimes researcher. For the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, we wrote about the late children’s author Volodymyr Vakulenko and writer Victoria Amelina, who carried the diary he buried until her own death from a Russian missile attack. Her posthumous book, Looking at Woman Looking at War, was published last month. (PEN)

Protecting Journalists in the U.S.
The Trump administration is unpredictable and hostile to a free press, which means that U.S. journalists are facing heightened safety risks. Our digital safety team spoke to the National Press Club journalism institute about the risks journalists face online and off, and the resources available through the Journalist Safety Urgent Care Helpline. (PEN)

Fear on Campus
Imagine a campus where a philosophy or religious studies professor refrains from assigning a paper on the existence of good and evil out of fear of being accused of “pressuring” a student to adopt a viewpoint. That could be the future of public higher education in Ohio and Arkansas if OHSB1 and the “Arkansas ACCESS Act” pass. If you are a resident of Ohio or Arkansas, you can send a letter urging your state representatives to vote against censorship here. (Send a letter)

Recommended Reading: A Brush With Death and ‘Mainline Mamas’
Samina Ali’s new memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back, recounts the near-death incident that left her without recognition of her own child and husband, language other than her native Urdu, and mobility. Roya Marsh’s latest poetry collection, savings time, is an exploration of the joys and hardships experienced by the Black community. And Keeonna Harris’ memoir Mainline Mama details the impact that her boyfriend’s 22 year prison sentence had on her life. (The PEN Ten)

– PEN America President Jennifer Finney Boylan, in conversation with Colm Tóibín for her new book, Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us