Save the Date for Our Spring Events |
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We hope you can join us for our upcoming events celebrating the power of literature and free expression. The 2025 PEN World Voices Festival will run from April 30 to May 3 in New York and Los Angeles, and the 2025 PEN America Literary Awards ceremony will take place on May 8 in New York. Celebrating the voices of writers is especially vital with free expression under attack in the United States and around the globe.
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The Trump administration continued its assault on free expression – cracking down on universities, arresting and attempting to deport people for their speech, threatening federal funding for museums and libraries, and banning a growing list of words from government documents and in medical and academic research. They may try to ban words; we encourage you to use yours and send letters to Congress to demand that they stand firm. |
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What Emily St. James Hopes You Learn About the Trans Experience |
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In her debut novel Woodworking, Emily St. James interweaves the stories of two trans women, a student and her teacher, in Mitchell, South Dakota, both coming-of-age in their own ways in the shadow of the first Trump presidency. In a PEN Ten interview, she spoke about the difficulty – and importance – of writing in a time like this. |
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Books and Roses
For more than ten years, Mary Ann Newman has helped organize NYC’s iteration of the Sant Jordi Festival—otherwise known as the Day of Books and Roses—that celebrates the Catalan tradition and highlights literature in translation. In this week’s Member Spotlight, Newman speaks about the rich cultural and literary history of the festival, as well as the importance of celebrating international literature.
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| Reading Women’s History
At a time when the National Science Foundation is rejecting research proposals that include the words “women” or “female,” reading about women’s lives and experiences has never been more important. This video features banned books about women’s history. |
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Building Resilience Against Disinformation: What Comes Next? |
Wed. March 26, 2025
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Online webinar Efforts to combat disinformation are in a tough spot, and many organizations and researchers are turning away from the problem – even as false information flourishes throughout our politics and social platforms. We’ll discuss new avenues of work for individuals and organizations seeking to counter the pernicious influence of disinformation in the years ahead. |
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So You Want to Support the Freedom to Read… Learn How to Do It Safely |
Wed. April 16, 2025
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET
Online webinar Taking action against book bans, censorship, or restrictions in schools? Join us for an online workshop with the Texas Freedom to Read Project and PEN America’s Jeje Mohamed to learn how to stay safe and protect yourself and your peers as an advocate. |
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Columbia’s Moment of Truth
Mahmoud Khalil remains detained in Louisiana, even though by the Trump administration’s own admission, Khalil’s arrest and detention are unambiguously retaliation for his political speech. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s letter demanding Columbia University change an array of policies represents an unprecedented assault on free speech, academic freedom and institutional autonomy. (Read our statement on Khalil) (Read our statement on Columbia)
Protest Is Not Terrorism
President Trump’s comment that he may label protests at Tesla dealerships and showrooms and other American companies as “domestic terrorism” is a sharp escalation in President Trump’s war on dissent. (Read our statement) Meta’s ‘Egregious Hypocrisy’
We called out Meta’s move to squash a corporate tell-all by Meta whistle-blower Sarah Wynn-Williams through legal intimidation just months after dropping professional fact-checking efforts and hate-speech policies under the guise of defending free speech. (The New York Times)
Romance as Resistance
As part of our Shelf Love interview series, author Kennedy Ryan spoke about romance novels as a vehicle for joy and agency in a literary landscape long gate-kept by men, and author Adib Khorram spoke about the role of artists in interpreting sexual experiences and power structures – and the responsibility of readers to fight back. (Read the interviews)
A Read-In Deferred
When the school district of Waterloo, Iowa, withdrew from the state’s 19th annual African American Read-In over fears it would lose federal funding, author Nikole Hannah-Jones jumped into action. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The 1619 Project author and Waterloo native held her own read-in last weekend featuring authors Jacqueline Woodson, Derrick Barnes, Tami Charles, and Jason Reynolds. (PEN)
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“Sometimes it seems like telling stories is not enough. … But then we remember that our stories are so powerful that some people are actually afraid of them.”
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– Sarah and Ian Hoffman, authors of Jacob’s Time to Choose, one of the books at the heart of an upcoming Supreme Court case that could have far-reaching implications for book bans. |
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