Celebrating Defenders of Free Speech |
|
|
“Free speech is something we have to fight for. We can joke about it – until we can’t. That’s the reality of where we’re at right now,” Amber Ruffin said as she kicked off our annual Literary Gala celebrating the freedoms to write, read, and speak. It was an inspiring evening honoring actor, producer and independent publisher Sarah Jessica Parker, Macmillan Publishers CEO Jon Yaged, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth, and unjustly imprisoned Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy.
|
|
|
The ‘Spam’ Approach to Online Abuse |
|
|
Our new joint report with Consumer Reports, “Treating Online Abuse Like Spam,” calls on social media platforms to fundamentally rethink how they treat online abuse. Instead of requiring users to address abuse by blocking or reporting it, often only after repeated exposure, a new approach would equip users with more flexible tools to protect themselves from harassment while still protecting free expression. |
|
|
This week’s Member Spotlight features an interview with PEN America member Federico Erebia. Investing his time in numerous advocacy groups, Erebia forges pathways for writers whose works reflect the intersections of identity, including race, gender and sexuality, and neurodivergence. |
| |
|
| “Don’t ever censor yourself.”
We caught up with Judy Blume on the red carpet of the 2025 PEN America Literary Gala to ask her if she has any advice for other writers whose books are being banned. Since the 1980s, Blume has been one of the most banned authors in the country. |
|
|
PEN America celebrates literature with free and low-cost quality public programming, authors’ evenings, advocacy trainings, writers workshops, community gatherings and more. Check out the PEN America event calendar for exciting online and in-person events! |
|
|
Thu. May 29, 2025
11:00 AM ET
FREE
Online
Since the military coup in 2021, women in Myanmar have drawn on their diverse experiences and shared knowledge to resist the violence of dictatorship. Offering a glimpse into their many perspectives, Women’s Voices from the Revolution, an anthology published by ALTSEAN-Burma, features 40 pieces written by first-time writers who took part in their Women Writers Workshops. We’ll talk to those writers on the power of storytelling, human rights, and their experiences living under the junta’s rule.
|
|
|
|
Narrative Magazine's 17th Annual Poetry Contest is now accepting submissions. Narrative winners have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, and many others. |
|
|
Does she really read two books a day?
Accepting the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, actress, producer, and literary advocate, Sarah Jessica Parker spoke about libraries and book bans, saying she is “enraged.” Later, there was also some debate about her declared reading habits. (School Libraries Journal) (Vogue)
Journalists Assistance Network
PEN America joined five major U.S.-based press freedom organizations to launch the Journalist Assistance Network to provide legal and safety resources to journalists and newsrooms in the country. More about the initiative >> Worried newsrooms >>
The Cost of Silencing Salman Rushdie
Allison Lee wrote about what it means when campus protestors–who stand to defend free expression–determine who gets the mic based on "ideological litmus tests,” and what is lost in the process. “The criticisms of Rushdie that led to this moment reveal a painful irony: Students who have rightly protested to defend their own free speech have now denied that same right to someone whose views they find disagreeable.” (Claremont Courier)
Recommended Reading
We spoke to celebrated graphic novelist Alison Bechdel about her latest, Spent. It’s a shift from memoir into fiction for the Fun Home author. “It was very freeing,” she told us. “After spending so many years working very hard to write the precise truth about my life, it was just a blast to make (stuff) up.” Read the interview >>
|
|
|
“Every last soul in America is real. No one can be erased just because others close their eyes, or, worse, attempt to ban the books that contain the stories about their lives.”
|
— PEN America President Jennifer Finney Boylan’s opening remarks at the 2025 Literary Gala |
|
|
PEN America
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
United States
PEN America- Washington, DC:
1100 13th Street, NW, Washington, DC xxxxxx
PEN America- Los Angeles:
1370 N. Saint Andrews Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028 |
|
|
Edit your email preferences or unsubscribe |
|
|
|
