Dear Friend,
The year began with insurrectionists storming the U.S. Capitol after being fed a steady diet of disinformation fueled by partisan agendas. The year now ends with pitched battles over what curriculum should be taught in schools, what books should be allowed on library shelves, and who should get to decide. Partisanship, political agendas, vitriol, and division are unmooring the foundations of truth, free speech, and open inquiry that undergird our democracy.
In a country riven by divisions, PEN America’s mission as a big tent organization—uniting those who support writers, books, and the principle of free speech no matter what else they may disagree on—has taken on heightened urgency. In 2021, battles over free speech began to touch every part of our personal and political lives: what can be taught in schools, posted online, or studied in college. The centrality of free speech and open discourse to the fate of our democracy is undeniable, yet often overlooked in the press of fighting other battles.
At PEN America, we stand as a staunch defender of the principle of free expression, regardless of political views or personal beliefs. Maintaining our fealty to principle isn’t always easy, and also requires advancing an inclusive public culture. I don’t claim that we always get it right. But the demand to better understand and confront threats to free speech is urgent. I wrote in Slate just the other day about the need to confront disinformation from the perspective of the consumer, recognizing three main categories: the informationally anchored (who know where to find trusted news), the adrift (who are awash in a sea of information online and on cable and aren’t sure what to believe), and the marooned (who have become invested in conspiracy theories and falsehoods). I welcome your comments on the piece.
|
|
We are charting a path for solutions. Our community partnership programs are helping folks build empathy—and media literacy skills. Our chapters in Tulsa, Austin, Birmingham, Dallas, North Carolina, South Florida, and Detroit are hosting dialogues among authors and writers who believe in the power of the written word and how it deserves our fierce protection. Our national student teach-in against book banning just last week brought together students and authors like Neil Gaiman, George M. Johnson, and Ashley Hope Pérez to equip the next generation of activists to uphold free expression and the freedom to read.
We’re a xxxxxx against censorship, a home for those too often silenced, but also leading a movement to reach deep into communities and find common truth and purpose. Read ahead to see what we’ve accomplished this fall—and please, if you haven’t already, support us with the most generous gift you can muster. We can’t do it alone.
|
|
Gag Orders in the Classroom
Schools have long been a battleground in the culture wars, and that became all the more apparent this fall as state legislators took drastic steps to pass laws that censor what topics can and can’t be broached in the classroom. We documented this trend in a report Educational Gag Orders: Legislative Restrictions on the Freedom to Read, Learn, and Teach, chronicling the alarming spread on efforts to constrict education on topics related to race, gender, and American history. Covered by The New York Times and opening with “Notes on Critical Race Theory” by PEN America Trustee Gregory Pardlo, the report finds that these bills represent an effort to impose content-based censorship; have a chilling effect on educators; threaten academic freedom; and undermine the First Amendment under the cover of “free speech.”
Our phrase, educational gag orders, has now become part of the headlines. But we’re not stopping with the report. We’re publishing a regular blog series keeping tabs on these bills, and our Jonathan Friedman has offered his analysis on this trend and book bans to the New York Daily News, Reuters, CNN, and dozens of others. Plus, our fact sheets and book ban defense resource guides are providing support for parent, student, and teacher groups who are waging this battle on the front lines.
We know that it’s the next generation who will lead the way when it comes to fighting for the freedom to read and the freedom to learn. That’s why we’re proud to have graduated another new cohort of student free expression advocates from the Global Free Speech Advocacy Institute. Applications are now open for our spring program.
|
|
Facing Down Censorship and Abuse
While there are government forces seeking to silence writers and teachers, self-censorship continues to pose a challenge to free expression. That was the theme of this year’s Annual General Meeting of PEN America’s Membership that took place this month in New York. As recounted in The New York Times, our panel brought together PEN America President Ayad Akhtar, linguist John McWhorter, writer Wajahat Ali, memoirist and fiction writer Carmen Maria Machado, and PEN America Trustee Jennifer Finney Boylan for an open debate on literature, identity, appropriation, and censorship. You can watch that full conversation here.
Writers also continue to face the scourge of online abuse—especially LGBTQ+ writers and writers of color. This virtual vitriol is silencing critical voices, and PEN America is prepared to provide writers the tools they and their allies need for a robust defense. In November, we held the final session of our three-part LGBTQ+ digital safety fall bootcamp with a “Hands-On Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop.” Are you a writer facing harassment? Check out our Online Harassment Field Manual, which is now available in French and Spanish. And sign our petition to tell Facebook and Twitter to Take Action to #FightOnlineAbuseNow.
|
|
A Celebratory Fall
This October, we held our annual PEN America Literary Gala live in New York City. I was thrilled to hear from so many that 2021 was the best PEN America Gala ever. Whether that was down to our fantastic lineup, delicious food, or a product of the thrill of being back together in person after so long doesn’t really matter.
Underneath the museum’s iconic blue whale, we gave our PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award to a trio of imprisoned Iranian writers Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi. Our annual PEN/Benenson Courage Award was conferred on health professionals Gail Newel and Mimi Hall, who faced backlash for speaking out about COVID in their community. Our Corporate Honoree, Disney’s Robert A. Iger, was feted by Lin Manuel-Miranda. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and Oscar winner Jodie Foster presented the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award to scholar and storyteller Henry Louis Gates Jr. View photos and videos from the ceremony, hosted by Awkwafina, and read an adaptation of Gates’ remarks published in The New York Times.
Soyinka also joined us for the fall season of PEN Out Loud, our author conversation series that convened virtually. He discussed his first novel in 50 years, Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, with Farah Jasmine Griffin. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny engaged in a virtual sit-down with PEN America Trustee Susan Choi to celebrate Clinton and Penny’s new book State of Terror. The New York Times’ Pamela Paul chatted about her essay collection 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet with Lauren Oyler. And we capped off the season with Sandra Cisneros talking about her new book Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo with Jaime Manrique.
|
|
Writers Under Pressure Worldwide
“The entire creative sector has collapsed and there are no longer galleries, arts businesses, or journals.” That’s what one filmmaker in Myanmar told us for our latest report, Stolen Freedoms: Creative Expression, Historic Resistance, and the Myanmar Coup. Our in-depth study details the devastation to the creative sector as well as the courage and determination of Myanmar’s literary and creative community in the wake of last February’s coup. Read the report and view videos and artwork from the creatives who are fighting against tyranny.
The chilling rollback of rights in Myanmar mirrors what we’ve seen elsewhere in the world. With the specter of a potential invasion looming, eastern Ukraine in particular has seen the space for free expression shrink. This fall, we brought a delegation of Ukrainian writers to New York and Washington, including previously-imprisoned blogger Stanislav Aseyev, to appeal to government leaders and advocacy groups that support human rights in Europe and Central Asia. Echoing the rally we convened for his freedom two years prior, Stanislav joined us for a similar rally here in New York City as part of the annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer.
We continue to watch with deep concern the deteriorating situation for artists and writers in Cuba. PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, PEN International, and Human Rights Watch released a powerful letter co-signed by over 300 prominent figures from the arts calling on the Cuban government to let Cuban artists live and work freely. Signatories included Meryl Streep, Orhan Pamuk, Paul Auster, Elena Poniatowska, Isabel Allende, Jules Feiffer, and Khaled Hosseini, as well as notable Cuban artists, including Tania Bruguera, Coco Fusco, and Hamlet Lavastida.
|
|
The Year Ahead
Early next year, health and safety permitting, we look forward to welcoming any and all back to our annual PEN America Literary Awards ceremony. Check out the 2022 longlisted titles and stock up for last-minute gift giving. We’re also excited to published in conjunction with Haymarket Books The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison, edited by our own Caits Meissner. We’ll be celebrating that book and many others at our annual New Year New Books celebration, with parties both in New York City and Los Angeles. We hope you can join us.
Meantime, as we close out the year and look ahead to the one beyond, I hope you take this holiday season to reflect on our victories and gear up for the battles ahead. We are grateful for your support at all times, but especially as we close out this incredibly eventful year. So once again, I ask you for whatever gift you can make. We are deeply appreciative.
|
|
Wishing you a healthy, happy holiday.
Suzanne Nossel
PEN America CEO
|
|
|
Get More News, Events, and Updates from PEN America ›
|
|
|
|
