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October 1, 2025
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Banned in the USA: The Normalization of Book Banning
Our latest report on the crisis of book bans documents nearly 23,000 instances of book removals since 2021 and sheds light on a disturbing normalization of censorship in public schools. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. The report shows how a climate of fear has led to “obeying in advance” and federal efforts to restrict education mimic state and local rhetoric. This year’s most banned author is Stephen King , and the list includes beloved authors Judy Blume and Jodi Picoult along with bestseller Sarah J. Maas and popular manga artist Yūsei Matsui.
Read the report >> [[link removed]] See the most banned books >> [[link removed]]
Read more in The New York Times >> [[link removed]]
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Jailed for Committing Journalism
More than 100 leading writers, journalists, and scholars signed onto a letter urging the U.S. government to immediately release Mario Guevara , the only journalist currently detained in the United States for his reporting. Guevara has been held in ICE custody in Georgia for more than 100 days and faces imminent deportation. Organized by PEN America in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Free Press, the letter’s signatories include Arundhati Roy, Burhan Sönmez, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Remnick, Francisco Goldman, Jim Acosta, Judy Blume, Julianne Moore, Orhan Pamuk, Philip Gourevitch, Sandra Cisneros, Steven Pinker, Valeria Luiselli , and Wajahat Ali.
Read the letter >> [[link removed]] More on the case >> [[link removed]]
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For this week’s Member Spotlight, we’re highlighting An Anthology of Rain [[link removed]] by PEN America member Phillis Levin . The twin elements of light and water course through Levin’s sixth collection of poetry in orbs, drops, leaves, and hair. Immersed in time and its fleeting nature, every poem is a reminder of the thrilling sense of immediacy even in the face of flux. [link removed] [[link removed]]
Check out An Anthology of Rain >> [[link removed]]
More 2025 publications by PEN America Members >> [[link removed]]
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Show Off Your Support for the Freedom to Read
This Banned Books Week, show off your support for the right to read with original PEN America merch. Featuring illustrations by bestselling authors Todd Parr, Mike Curato, and Art Spiegelman, the PEN America shop has tee shirts, tote bags, socks, and more for the reader in your life. Take 10% off your purchase with the code FREETHEBOOKS2025!
Shop now >> [[link removed]]
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[link removed] [[link removed]] Are picture books too much for our schools?
What are the 25 greatest picture books of the last 25 years? Slate surveyed more than 100 authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, academics, and publishing pros to find out. But we couldn’t help but notice that six of the books — nearly a quarter of the list — have been banned in schools. Has your favorite picture book been banned?
Check it out >> [[link removed]]
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Trump vs. the Media
Jimmy Kimmel's return to late-night was a vindication for free speech and a reminder that when people speak out to hold the powerful to account, it matters. But it came as the Trump administration’s crackdown on comments regarding the killing of Charlie Kirk continues, while another development is equally alarming: President Trump filed suit, as an individual, against The New York Times , four journalists who work there, and Penguin Random House.
Read Summer Lopez’s op-ed >> [[link removed]]
Jonathan Friedman on the potential “watershed moment” >> [[link removed]]
‘Everyone is Terrified’
After the Texas Tech University System ordered faculty across its five universities to limit classroom discussion of transgender identities, Jonathan Friedman warned about the dangers of prohibiting topics in classrooms: “This is an ideological diktat, masked as legal compliance, to obscure its brazen unconstitutionality.”
Read more [[link removed]] in the Texas Tribune >> [[link removed]]
Staying Safe from Doxing
In the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, Jonathan Friedman spoke about the educators on the Turning Point “watchlist,” and Viktorya Vilk shared PEN America’s new Digital Safety guide on what to do if you are doxed or placed on a watchlist.
Educators harassed, threatened >> [[link removed]]
Read the guide >> [[link removed]]
Read more in [[link removed]] Inside Higher Ed [[link removed]] >> [[link removed]]
‘Devouring Our Dreams’ in Gaza
Writer Akram Al-Sourani shared his experience of life in Gaza. “Water is scarce, medicine rarer, and food… Well, nothing here qualifies as food.” His daughter creates paper snacks. “And as always, we gather late at night to play our favorite game: the game of eating by imagination. And so here we are: chewing on fantasy, devouring our dreams.” Read the piece >> [[link removed]]
Recommended Reading
In this week’s PEN Ten interview, we talk with Cuban author Wendy Guerra’s autobiographical novel Everyone Leaves (translated by Achy Obejas ), which provides an intimate snapshot of life under Fidel Castro . Read the interview >> [[link removed]]
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"We’ve lost everything: our sense of self, our lives, our belongings, even Gaza itself. Every day, I search for the person I used to be, but I can’t find him."
— Akram Al-Sourani, a Palestinian writer and poet living in Gaza, in “Devouring our dreams” [[link removed]]
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