Plus: RSVP now for PEN America's virtual gala

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed][UNIQID]


** Transgender Awareness Week ([link removed][UNIQID])
------------------------------------------------------------


** A Reading List ([link removed][UNIQID])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed][UNIQID]
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and this year, PEN America is proud to partner with the Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) and Elle Hearns—founder of MPJI—to curate fiction and nonfiction books that center the stories of trans individuals and communities alongside the work of trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer writers. In addition to paving the way for even more narratives about trans identities and individuals, these stories affirm the depth and breadth of trans lives and the need to support, defend, and protect them. Read more ›› ([link removed][UNIQID])

PEN America/L’Engle Rahman Prize for Mentorship ([link removed][UNIQID])
[link removed][UNIQID]

Named for the late acclaimed author Madeleine L’Engle and her 10-year written friendship with scholar, writer and former Black Party leader Ahmad Rahman, the PEN America/L’Engle Rahman Prize for Mentorship honors four mentor/mentee pairs in PEN America’s longstanding prison writing mentorship program, which links established writers with those currently incarcerated. Learn more about the history of the prize here ([link removed][UNIQID]) and read the four 2020 mentor/mentee pairs' essays reflecting on their experiences here » ([link removed][UNIQID])

Upcoming Events
[link removed][UNIQID]

2020 PEN America Virtual Gala ([link removed][UNIQID])
Tuesday 12/8, 7pm ET

Join PEN America for our first national, virtual Gala celebration on Tuesday, December 8. Join us and special guests, including Bono, Dame Emma Thompson, Soledad O'Brien, Joan Baez, and more to celebrate and recognize our PEN/Benenson Courage Award honorees Darnella Frazier and Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, alongside singer and writer Patti Smith, Frank A. Bennack, Jr. of Hearst, and Freedom to Write honoree Xu Zhiyong. Registration is free and includes one free Audible credit, provided by Audible, our Literary Service Award sponsor. Learn more ([link removed][UNIQID]) and RSVP here ([link removed][UNIQID]#RSVP) .

[link removed][UNIQID]

Megha Majumdar and Deesha Philyaw in Conversation ([link removed][UNIQID])
Wednesday 12/9, 7pm ET

Join PEN America and The Silver Unicorn Bookstore for this can't-miss conversation between debut authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, finalist for the National Book Award) and Megha Majumdar (A Burning, longlisted for the National Book Award). Learn more ([link removed][UNIQID]) and register here ([link removed][UNIQID]) for this free virtual event.

The PEN Pod ([link removed][UNIQID])
› From Trauma to Transcendence with Alice Randall: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “One of the things about this book right now is it argues that joy is radical, and Black joy is particularly radical, and it helps you achieve some Black joy right now—it helps all people achieve some honorable, honest joy.”

› The Power of Writing in the Now with Rhonda Mitchell: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “I think if you’re not vulnerable, people don’t resonate with your experience—unless they can walk in your shoes, they can’t connect."

› Combating Ideological Exclusion with Julia Rose Kraut: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “We're seeing in the Trump administration that there is a real focus on immigration restriction, which is at the heart of what we've seen in the past four years."

› Exploring White Feminism and Ways to Combat It with Ruby Hamad: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “We need something more than a movement that can’t be introspective enough to admit its own limitations."
Catch Up with The PEN Ten ([link removed][UNIQID])

› The PEN Ten with Valzhyna Mort ([link removed][UNIQID]) : ([link removed][UNIQID]) “Belarusian bones are unburied bones. Walking in those woods, one finds personal objects with inscriptions scratched upon them—words speaking to us, the living."

› The PEN Ten with Danielle Evans: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “My particular identities certainly shape my writing, but I am always thinking in terms of identities—plural. Characterization and narrative tension come from the tension between a character’s inner life and their exterior life."

› The PEN Ten with Cynan Jones: ([link removed][UNIQID]) “Writing is not an art, it’s a craft. Like playing the violin, or hitting a baseball, or throwing a clay pot. What you do with the craft is the art.”


** From Our Partners
------------------------------------------------------------
TNR Salon Series With Jonathan Lethem ([link removed][UNIQID])
Monday 11/23, 7pm ET
[link removed][UNIQID]
Join The New Republic for a livestream of the Salon book series featuring Jonathan Lethem, author, and Laura Marsh, TNR literary editor, as they talk about The Arrest, Lethem’s new novel. Register here ([link removed][UNIQID]) » ([link removed][UNIQID])
[link removed][UNIQID]

Conversations from the 2020 Pasadena Festival of Women Authors ([link removed][UNIQID])

The Pasadena Literary Alliance presents a unique collection of videos capturing conversations from the 2020 Pasadena Festival of Women Authors ([link removed][UNIQID]) , including a video of PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel ([link removed][UNIQID]) in conversation with Andrew Marantz and PEN member Sewell Chan as they discuss freedom of speech and the rising influence of social media.

[link removed][UNIQID]

Air/Light Magazine ([link removed][UNIQID])

Our friends at USC have launched Air/Light Magazine ([link removed][UNIQID]) , an online literary journal where poets, essayists, and fiction writers can share work that doesn’t fit inside boxes, that pushes boundaries, and speaks directly to some essential question or concern. Explore Issue One ([link removed][UNIQID]) for work former PEN award-winners and EV mentors Daniel Alarcón, Lilliam Rivera, Lynne Thompson, Chris Abani, Victoria Chang, Douglas Kearny, and Susan Straight.

============================================================
** Join PEN ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Donate ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Facebook ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Twitter ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Website ([link removed][UNIQID])

Get More News, Events, and Updates from ** PEN America › ([link removed])

You are receiving this e-mail because you opted in at PEN.org or a PEN America-sponsored event.

** manage subscriptions ([link removed])
| ** unsubscribe ([link removed])
| ** contact us (mailto:[email protected])

Copyright © 2020 PEN America | 588 Broadway Suite 303, New York, NY 10012 USA