Friend—
On Monday night, we gathered together underneath the iconic blue whale of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History for our annual Literary Gala.
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The evening's host, award-winning journalist, writer, and actress Faith Salie.
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PEN America President Ayad Akhtar delivering his introductory remarks.
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Peter and Pamela Barbey, Asia Kate Dillon, Zadie Smith, Stefaniia Yesypenko, Suzanne Nossel, and Kateryna Yesypenko.
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This year's Gala was an especially momentous occasion, as it also marked the start of our celebration of PEN America’s 100th year. For over a century, PEN America has been committed to protecting, in the words of PEN America President Ayad Akhtar, “the exercise of speech that matters to us most, that must matter to us most, that speech which articulates our needs, our understanding, our competing senses of reality itself, this speech which shapes our lives in cooperation with one another, however tensely.”
In times of change and tumult, it's especially important to acknowledge how literature and stories can unite us. We can’t take the power of the written word for granted, especially when censorious trends like book bans and educational gag orders abound, authoritarian governments abroad seek to control and coerce, and culture wars threaten to derail our discourse and democracy.
It’s thanks to you that PEN America has been able to defend truth and the freedom to write so robustly over this last century, and to enter this next chapter with the courage and conviction that our work so often requires.
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Senator Cory Booker presenting the 2022 Business Visionary Honoree Award to Don Katz.
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Asia Kate Dillon presenting the 2022 PEN/Benenson Courage Award to Jack Petocz.
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Ruth Negga presenting the 2022 PEN/Audible Literary Service Award to Zadie Smith.
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Kateryna Yesypenko accepting the 2022 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award on behalf of her husband, imprisoned Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko.
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A special edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale printed and bound with fireproof materials and was presented at our Gala. The book is available for auction by Sotheby’s New York from May 23 to June 7, with all proceeds going to benefit PEN America’s work in support of free expression.
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Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko was detained in Russian-occupied Crimea in March 2021 and has been targeted by a methodical campaign to silence and crush a free press and open expression. After being tortured and forced to confess to baseless, politically motivated charges of espionage and weapons manufacturing, Yesypenko was sentenced to six years in a Russian labor colony.
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Jack Petocz is a junior at Flagler Palm Coast High School in Florida. Petocz was launched into the public eye after organizing a state-wide student walk out against HB 1557, Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, in March, after which his school suspended him for handing out LGBTQ+ pride flags. Jack is currently a political strategist at Gen-Z For Change, working on the midterm elections for the progressive non-profit.
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Audible founder and executive chairman Don Katz is PEN America’s 2022 Business Visionary Honoree. An accomplished journalist and author, Katz created Audible 25 years into an extraordinary and award-winning career. Founded in 1995, Audible has revolutionized the way we experience literature, becoming the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling and the home for talented creators in audio.
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Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, and Swing Time, as well as two collections of essays, Changing My Mind and Feel Free. Zadie Smith is currently a tenured professor of fiction at New York University and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Our Gala was a stirring and powerful reminder of why we must continue protecting the freedom to read, write, and learn. 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 champion them, and encourage the rest of the world to follow suit.
With gratitude,
Suzanne Nossel
PEN America CEO
PS -- It means the world to us to know that we have your support. Whether or not you were able to join us for the Gala in person or virtually, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating and defending the freedom to write.
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