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As an organization of writers, readers, and those who believe that words can transform lives, PEN America is committed to the quest for common truths, social progress, and a more just world. We ([link removed][UNIQID]) stand in solidarity ([link removed][UNIQID]) with writers, artists, and the literary community at large in the fight to confront anti-Black racism and to end police violence.


** READ
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** Black Literature – Past, Present, and Future ([link removed][UNIQID])
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** From the PEN World Voices Festival Team
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History has proven that interest in Black literature surges during periods of social unrest. But the canon of Black literature did not suddenly appear in these moments. Black literature is American literature. This week's reading list features a mix of classic and contemporary works from Black authors that we feel are in conversation with one another, inform one another, and celebrate one another. Read more » ([link removed][UNIQID])


** LISTEN

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** The PEN Pod ([link removed][UNIQID])
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This week, we spoke with The Washington Post's Karen Attiah ([link removed][UNIQID]) about intersections between the public health crisis and our ongoing crises of democracy and injustice.

Episodes to revisit:
› Bernardine Evaristo ([link removed][UNIQID]) , on creating "as many black British female protagonists as I could get away with” in her book, Girl, Woman, Other.

› M. NourbeSe Philip ([link removed][UNIQID]) , who has written extensively on the experiences of the African diaspora and whose work issues searing indictments of oppressive structures.

› N.K. Jemisin ([link removed][UNIQID]) , on writing in the midst of a pandemic and the viral plague of injustices that disproportionately affect Black Americans like gentrification.

› Franklin Leonard ([link removed][UNIQID]) , on how to support marginalized creators and stories.


** LEARN

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** Resources
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› #SayHerName: Justice for Breonna Taylor ([link removed][UNIQID]) - A reading list from Charis Books & More.

› Black-Owned Bookstores to Support Right Now (and Always) ([link removed][UNIQID]) - A list of Black-owned independent bookstores to support from Libro.FM.

› Ethical Reporting on Police Violence and Black-led Resistance: Tips for Journalists ([link removed][UNIQID]) - Compiled by Press On, a southern movement journalism collective.

› Anti-Racist Kids’ Books ([link removed][UNIQID]) - from White Whale Bookstore. All proceeds from this list in June will go to Black Lives Matter.

› The African American Literature Book Club ([link removed][UNIQID]) - The AALBC is the oldest and largest online bookstore dedicated to international black literature.

› 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship ([link removed][UNIQID]) - a guide from Mireille Charper.
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Freedom, Power, and Rage:
A PEN Out Loud Reading List

Books that ask—and answer—how we can channel our freedom, power, and rage to create change in the world. Read more ›› ([link removed][UNIQID])

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Memory and Modernity:
A PEN Out Loud Reading List

17 genre-spanning works that consider power and memory in relation to contemporary and historical spaces. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID]) ›› ([link removed][UNIQID])

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** PEN Ten Interviews to Revisit
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› Ishmael Beah ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Mahogany L. Browne ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Roya Marsh ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Danez Smith ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Margaret Wilkerson Sexton ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Ibram X Kendi ([link removed][UNIQID])
› Geffrey Davis ([link removed][UNIQID])

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From Our Partners

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** Our Brilliant Friends After Lunch Book Club ([link removed][UNIQID])

Tuesday, 6/23, 4 PM ET

An exclusive advance reading from Elena Ferrante’s forthcoming novel, The Lying Life of Adults (coming September 1) and a celebration of the translator’s craft. All proceeds will benefit the ** PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund ([link removed][UNIQID])
, for writers in need of funds, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

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** Human Rights Watch Film Festival ([link removed][UNIQID])

Thursday 6/11 - Saturday, 6/20

Tune in for stirring films that reflect a resounding, global, rallying cry: the will of the people shall not be ignored. Films include ** Radio Silence ([link removed][UNIQID])
, a film about Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui, and ** Coded Bias ([link removed][UNIQID])
, a film about MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini, who discovered the inherent prejudices of facial-recognition software.

PEN AMERICA LITERARY AWARDS AND GRANTS

› The deadline for the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants is June 15, 2020. Submissions for the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists and the PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History will close August 1, 2020. ** Learn more here. ([link removed][UNIQID]&mc_cid=a4890bd886&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

› Submissions for the ** 2021 PEN America Literary Awards ([link removed][UNIQID]&mc_cid=a4890bd886&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
will open June 15, 2020.
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