The world we’re building

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Friend—

Last night was PEN America’s Literary Gala—our first in-person celebration in well over a year. What a joy it was to gather safely, to celebrate the power of literature to bridge boundaries and provide connection—something I know we’ve all been missing, and can no longer take for granted, during these times.
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Our evening's host, Awkwafina

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PEN America President Ayad Akhtar delivering his opening remarks

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Our annual Literary Gala is a special night for so many reasons. It’s not just that the proceeds from this event are crucial to the dynamic programming and critical advocacy work that has made PEN America a cultural pillar and a bastion of support to so many writers and readers over the years. And it’s not just that the event itself is an exhilarating, inspiring evening in which we pay tribute to some of the greatest cultural luminaries and figures of our time.

It’s because PEN America’s Gala is also about honoring all those who can’t be with us in these moments of celebration and recognition—the writers in places less free than ours, whose powerful words and extraordinary courage have placed them behind bars. Whose only crimes were daring to speak the truth.

HELP US CONTINUE FIGHTING ON THEIR BEHALF ([link removed])
This year, we honored those whose courage, leadership, and dedication to the power of storytelling and words have illuminated the pathway ahead for all of us in these dark times. Who, in the words of PEN America President Ayad Akhtar, help us to “make sense of collective adversity and trauma," and who remind us that “a culture that fosters reading and one that supports writers, invariably compels us to presence, to protest, to celebration, to comforting and supporting one another.”
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Jodie Foster presenting the 2021 PEN/Audible Literary Service Award to Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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Wole Soyinka presenting the 2021 PEN/Audible Literary Service Award to Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda presenting the 2021 PEN Corporate Honoree Award to Robert A. Iger

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Andrew Solomon presenting the 2021 PEN/Benenson Courage Award to Gail Newel and Mimi Khin Hall

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** Our Honorees
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2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award: Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi ([link removed])
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Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi ([link removed]) are three celebrated writers who have been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities for their writing, their defense of free expression, and their peaceful opposition to state censorship. These writers’ contributions to the literary community lie not only in their own writings, but in their work supporting other writers as leaders of the Iranian Writers Association, fighting back against censorship in one of the most repressive environments in the world. Learn more

2021 PEN/Benenson Courage Award: Mimi Khin Hall and Gail Newel ([link removed])
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The PEN/Benenson Courage Award honors exceptional acts of courage in the exercise of freedom of expression. We awarded Santa Cruz County Health Services Director Mimi Khin Hall ([link removed]) and Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel ([link removed]) with this award for their courage in speaking openly about the animosity and threats they faced as they worked to protect their community during the most severe waves of the pandemic. Not only have these public servants risen to this unprecedented crisis, they have done so while fighting an onslaught of disinformation and vitriol that has imperiled attempts to control the pandemic.

2021 PEN America Corporate Honoree: Robert A. Iger ([link removed])
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Our 2021 Corporate Honoree is Robert A. Iger ([link removed]) , the visionary Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company. Lin-Manuel Miranda, no stranger to creative excellence, presented this honor in recognition of Iger’s leadership, under which exceptional storytelling and unmatched creativity have flourished.

2021 PEN/Audible Literary Service Award: Henry Louis Gates Jr. ([link removed])
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We also honored Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ([link removed]) for his pioneering contributions as a writer and a scholar to our understanding of African and African American literature, history and culture. Jodie Foster and Wole Soyinka presented the award to Professor Gates, with Soyinka traveling from Nigeria to be present with us.

Last night was a poignant and stirring reminder for all of us that the freedom to read, write, and learn can never be taken for granted. PEN America’s work in defending those freedoms is only possible through the efforts of our tireless supporters like you. And as long as there are consequences to be borne by those who dare to speak freely, PEN America will continue to support and protect them, and encourage the rest of the world to follow suit. ([link removed])

With gratitude,

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Suzanne Nossel
PEN America CEO

PS -- As the world slowly begins to open back up, we have an opportunity before us to determine what lessons we can take forward with us, and to determine what kind of world we want to live in. Help us build that better world today. ([link removed])
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