The ‘Golden Age’ That Isn’t |
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Less than a month into the Trump presidency, it’s hard to keep track of all the ways the administration has attacked culture and free speech. Banning words like “gender” and “diversity” in government documents. Removing the “TQ” from LGBTQ+ at the Stonewall National Monument. Restricting books about Black history, gender, and “un-American” concepts from schools for military families – apparently including the book Freckleface Strawberry, by Oscar winner Julianne Moore. Eliminating observation of Black History Month and other cultural celebrations at those schools. Attacking the press and restricting White House access for The Associated Press, for not renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Replacing the board of the Kennedy Center exclusively with loyalists and Trump himself – the kind of act that PEN centers around the world have witnessed when autocrats take over.
For an administration allegedly interested in “free speech,” it’s an exhausting list, and that seems to be the point. We won’t lose focus or stop protecting free speech and the arts. Join us. |
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PEN America to Honor Sarah Jessica Parker, Jon Yaged
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We are celebrating two literary champions— iconic actor, producer and independent publisher Sarah Jessica Parker, who will receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, and Jon Yaged, chief executive officer of Macmillan Publishers, who will be honored with this year’s Business Visionary award. Parker is a longtime advocate for reading and literacy, and executive produced the new documentary The Librarians, about heroes in the fight against book bans. Yaged will be honored for his commitment to publishing diverse authors, combating book bans, and igniting a lifelong love of reading in young people.
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“Why should romance, a genre that clearly resonates with millions of readers, have to explicitly fight for its right to exist?” So asks author Ali Hazelwood in the first installment of “Shelf Love,” an interview series celebrating romance novels. More than half of unique titles banned during the 2023-2024 school year involved sex-related themes or depictions – books that help young adults navigate universal human experiences. |
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Sarah Tomlinson, PEN America member since 2018, is a Los Angeles-based writer with more than 20 years of experience as a journalist, music critic, writer, ghostwriter, and editor. She sits down with us to discuss her debut novel, The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers. (Bookshop) |
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| Thanks to Julianne Moore, who shared our post about the banning of Freckleface Strawberry, the restriction of books at military schools has gotten attention both on social media and in outlets including CNN, Rolling Stone, and People magazine. |
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Art of Exile | Virtual Screening
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| Fri. February 28, 2025
12:00 – 1:15pm ET
Join us for a virtual screening of The Art of Exile documentary series. This series brings together three documentary shorts which reveal an intimate portrait of artists whose former lives were irrevocably changed by war and censorship. |
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Defending the Freedom to Read 101: An Online Series for Organizers and Authors
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| Thu. February 20 Tue. February 25
Tue. March 4
Tue. March 11
7:00 — 8:00pm ET The fight against book bans brings together a coalition of authors, students, educators, librarians, and readers. This workshop series sessions will provide practical strategies for addressing common issues including disinformation, digital safety and privacy, how to get started organizing, engaging local elected officials, and more. |
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Our Literary Grant Winners
We are delighted to announce the 2025 literary grant winners for works-in-progress: Tina Dupuy, Katie Prout, Hugh “H.D.” Hunter, L Vocem, María Isabel Álvarez, Izidora Angel, Sean Manning, Arthur Reiji Morris, Hajar Hasaini, Lily Schwalb, Hannah V. Warren, Sylvia Franke, V.B. Borjen, Tamina Hauser, Madison Felman-Panagotacos, and Beth Hickling-Moore. (Read more about their work)
That’s Not How You Defend Women
PEN America joined more than 50 organizations in signing a joint letter expressing concern that the Trump Administration’s executive order on “defending women from gender ideology extremism” will lead to censorship of literature. (Publishers Weekly)
Three Great New Books
Our latest PEN Ten interviews explore the new books Can You Imagine?, a picture book about the life of Yoko Ono by Lisa Tolin and Yas Imamura; Bingo Bango Boingo, by Alan Michael Parker, which uses the form of a Bingo card to take flash fiction to another level; and The Edge of Water, a provocative debut novel of mothers, daughters, and adopted families by Olufunke Grace Bankole 20 years in the making. (The PEN Ten)
Protecting U.S. Journalists
We called the White House move to expel the AP for not using the term “Gulf of America” “retribution, plain and simple,” and decried Trump’s and Elon Musk’s attacks on journalists by name on social media. Our Digital Safety team in partnership with the Knight Election Hub offered free online abuse self defense and anti-hacking and doxxing training to local newsrooms covering politics. (AP, New York Times)
‘This Conference Has Been Canceled’
Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, there has been a disturbing trend of cancelations on college campuses, with all manner of events being called off, seemingly because they are related to race, LGBTQ+ identities or “DEI” — as conceived by its critics. (Campus Free Speech Blog)
‘ROI’ Attacks on Higher Ed
Efforts to ban academic programs at universities for ideological reasons are spreading across state legislatures this year, but with a new rationale — “return on investment.” This buzzy phrase may sound like an effective way to cut costs or make higher education more efficient, but it is cover for an insidious form of censorship. (Educational Censorship Blog)
Making a Mockery of Tenure
Attacks on tenure are another front in the battle for academic freedom in higher education. A Kansas bill “bans tenure in all but name” and a North Dakota bill threatens to make “a mockery of the tenure system.” (Forbes, University World News)
Poetry Is Not a Crime
Algerian poet Mohamed Tadjadit was sentenced to five years in prison, seemingly for his artistic and free expression through poems criticizing government policy. (Threads) |
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“The fate of trans, intersex, and nonbinary people is not a political ideology, it’s a matter of human rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression. Government erosion of those rights should concern all Americans.”
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– Letter from PEN America and 50 other organizations objecting to the White House executive order on gender identity. |
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