[link removed] [[link removed]]
January 7, 2025
[link removed] [[link removed]]
Ben Folds on Resigning From the Kennedy Center
When multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ben Folds stepped into the role of artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in 2017, it wasn’t political. But even before it was renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, the writing was on the wall. In conversation with PEN America, Folds talked about his decision to step down from the Kennedy Center, art as activism, and why he doesn’t believe in writer's block.
Read the interview >> [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]]
A New Resource for Campuses
Today PEN America unveiled an updated Campus Free Speech Guide , a unique digital resource designed to help students, faculty, and administrators navigate the complex challenges of speech, protest, and academic freedom sweeping U.S. colleges and universities. The guide provides grounding principles, analysis of real conflicts involving free speech, and clear, accessible advice for upholding freedom of expression principles while fostering inclusive campus climates.
See the guide >> [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]]
The Controversial Kitty-Corn
Shannon Hale’s heartfelt children’s book Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn has a simple message: Everyone makes mistakes, and we all deserve to be loved. Recently, the book was banned in a Texas school district because Unicorn, a male character, is depicted with eyelashes and a purple mane, and because the story features images of his “paint bum” after he sits in paint. The controversy came as a shock to Hale. “We don’t need to shy away from the fact that all people (and unicorns! and kitties!) have bottoms,” she told PEN America.
Read the interview >> [[link removed]]
Apply Now for Emerging Voices Fellowship
PEN America’s Emerging Voices Fellowship selects 10 early career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world for a virtual five-month mentorship program. The fellowship includes curated one-on-one mentorship, workshops, introductions to editors, agents, and publishers, and an honorarium of $1,500. Applications are open until Jan. 31.
Apply today >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
Explore a selection of PEN America Member publications from 2025: bestselling fiction, a wide range of children's and young adult literature, award-winning translations, vital works of nonfiction, and more. [link removed] [[link removed]]
Browse the list >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]]
Wed. January 14 | 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM ET
Poets House
10 River Terrace
FREE
Ring in the new year at PEN America’s annual New Year New Books Party! We invite members and allies to join us as we toast to our favorite books from 2025, share food and drink, and mingle with fellow enthusiasts of the written word. We will be celebrating alongside our Literary Host Committee: Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jinwoo Chong, Cleyvis Natera, Alejandro Heredia, and Lynn Nottage. All allies of the literary community are warmly invited.
RSVP here >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
Karl Ove Knausgaard ‘The School of Night’ Book Launch
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tue. January 13, 2026 | 7:30 PM
Kaufman Music Center
Abraham Goodman House
129 West 67th Street
Join us in celebration of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s most daring and macabre novel yet. The School of Night is an indelible tale about dark temptations and moral depravity, and what we forget when we bargain with the devil. The evening will feature a discussion with the author moderated by Patricia Lockwood. Each ticket includes a copy of the book.
RSVP here >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] 'We aren't going to stop book bans without a fight.'
Best-selling author Jodi Picoult has a New Year’s Resolution for you: Join PEN America in the fight against book bans. PEN America data reveals that Picoult’s novel Nineteen Minutes is the second-most banned book in American schools since 2021. Find out why and learn how you can help.
Check it out >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
Is This Peak Censorship?
A few months ago, a group of students in San Ramon, California, were waiting in their school library when children’s book authors Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin-Pritchard arrived to talk about their book, The Day the Books Disappeared . But before they entered the library, the authors were told they were not permitted to address the topic of the book – book bans. A few weeks later, the subject of book banning was also deemed not suitable for older students across the country, part of a growing list of efforts to censor the very subject of censorship. Read more >> [[link removed]]
Or This? Censoring Plato
[[link removed]] A Texas A&M professor was told not to teach certain writings from Plato because it would violate the university’s rules against “advocating gender ideology.” Yes, that Plato: 5th Century BCE Athenian philosopher, student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. That guy was banned in Texas.
Read our statement >> [[link removed]]
Snapshots of Censorship
[[link removed]] As part of our ongoing series on the impact of censorship in higher education, we heard from a professor who was sanctioned for criticizing his university and, according to an anonymous complaint against, for speaking “negatively about Israel” in the classroom. We also spoke to a director of American Indian Studies who was restricted from using land acknowledgements.
See the snapshots >> [[link removed]]
Utah’s Bans Met With Lawsuit
Utah added three more books to its statewide “no read” list for all public school classrooms and libraries as the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the state [[link removed]] on behalf of plaintiffs including Kurt Vonnegut, Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins , and Amy Reed .
Read more >> [[link removed]]
Beyond Book Bans
In a “pretty dramatic response,” Randolph County, North Carolina dissolved the board overseeing its public library after it voted to keep Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff in the children’s section. Kasey Meehan told the Washington Post it was one of the most severe penalties she has seen in response to a controversial book. ( Washington Post [[link removed]] )
Read PEN America’s 2022 interview with Lukoff >> [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
“Teens know about sex. They know about abuse. They know a little bit about a lot of things. Reading good books and talking with adults they trust is far more enlightening and fortifying than pretending these subjects don’t exist.”
— Author Shannon Hale [[link removed]]
Donate to PEN America [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
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: [link removed]