Reading recommendations for Juneteenth

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The 2022 Emerging Voices Fellows ([link removed])
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Join us in welcoming the 2022 Emerging Voices Fellows ([link removed]) —Natáhne Arrowsmith, S. Erin Batiste, Sarah Chaves, Julian Iralu, Iris Kim, Jane S. Kim, Monica Mills, Doreen Oliver, Connie Pertuz-Meza, Edythe Rodriguez, Shakeema Smalls, and Christina Tudor! These 12 writers were selected from the largest applicant pool in the 26-year history of the program, which is designed to build the diversity of the literary community. Each Fellow will receive $1,500, a professional headshot, one-year complimentary PEN membership, and partake in a five-month immersive mentorship program that includes virtually accessible creative writing workshops, visits from publishing professionals, and workshops that emphasize the business of books. Learn more about this year's Fellows and the Emerging Voices Fellowship ›› ([link removed])
Reading Recommendations for Juneteenth
Monday, June 20th marks Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the end of American slavery. In honor of this upcoming holiday, we present recommendations for writings and publications from Black authors who have written about justice and the impact of America's carceral system, curated by PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing program ([link removed]) .

"Freedom, Family, and Faith" ([link removed]) by Lawrence Bartley
Felon: Poems ([link removed]) by Reginald Dwayne Betts
"Letters From Daddy" ([link removed]) by Demetrius Buckley
Badlands ([link removed]) by Thomas Edwards
"Why A Small Offense Shouldn't Have Life Altering Consequence" ([link removed]) by Faylita Hicks
A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound ([link removed]) by Donna Hylton
Survival Math ([link removed]) by Mitchell S. Jackson
"No One Survives the Smoke" ([link removed]) by Nicole Shawan Junior
Apologies from Within ([link removed]) by Santonio D. Murff Bey
What We Know: Solutions From Our Experiences in the Justice System ([link removed]) edited by
Vivian Nixon and Daryl V. Atkinson
"How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority" ([link removed]) by Rahsaan Thomas
"Rolling Thunder" ([link removed]) by Emile DeWeaver
Quilted Steel: A Choreopoem by Mahogany L. Browne ([link removed])


** Monday 6/13 | 8pm ET
Lincoln Center Atrium
61 W 62nd St, New York, NY 10023
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Braided from the real-life source material of PEN America 2018 Writing For Justice Fellow Priscilla Ocen’s interviews, Mahogany L. Browne’s choreopoem Quilted Steel centers the pain, lives and dreams of formerly incarcerated women in the form of a short film featuring actresses Dominique Toney, Yazmin Monet Watkins and Jasmine Williams. Produced by Caits Meissner, director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America, this collaboration is a call to bear unflinching witness. The night will host a premiere of the film, followed by a panel moderated by PEN America Deputy Director Nicole Shawan Junior and featuring Vivian D. Nixon, Vanda Seward, and Heather Stokes. Watch a preview of Quilted Steel ([link removed]) and register here ›› ([link removed])


** Linda Villarosa in Conversation
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** Wednesday 6/15; Thursday 6/16; Tuesday 6/21
Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Montgomery
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In 2018, Linda Villarosa’s New York Times Magazine article on maternal and infant mortality among Black mothers and babies in America caused an awakening. Now, in Under the Skin, Linda Villarosa lays bare the forces in the American health-care system and in American society that cause Black people to “live sicker and die quicker” compared to their white counterparts. Anchored by unforgettable human stories and offering incontrovertible proof, Under the Skin is dramatic, tragic, and necessary reading. PEN Across America is excited to present events with Linda Villarosa in partnership with local bookstores in Chapel Hill ([link removed]) , Greensboro ([link removed]) , and Montgomery ([link removed]) .

Can I Laugh At That? ([link removed])


** Thursday 6/16 | 5pm ET
Digital Event
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The WNET Group’s ALL ARTS and EXPLORING HATE along with UNORTHODOX and PEN America present: “Can I Laugh At That?” Four leading comedians—Judy Gold, Alex Edelman, Negin Farsad, and Mike Yard—discuss how they do their jobs in today’s world. It’s a world where a failed joke can end up on social media, dissected by millions. Where the line between an acceptable joke and one that crosses the line is blurrier than ever. Where bad news does inspire good comedy… even if we’re laughing through our tears. Join us for an important—and funny—conversation. Learn more and register here ›› ([link removed])

PEN Presents: Cleyvis Natera and Steph Cha ([link removed])


** Monday 6/20 | 7pm PT
Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027
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Join former PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow Cleyvis Natera and award-winning author and critic Steph Cha for a conversation about Neruda on the Park, Natera’s debut novel about a family enmeshed in the complexities of culture and class within the Dominican neighborhood they have called home for twenty years. Learn more and register here ›› ([link removed])

The PEN Ten ([link removed])

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The PEN Ten with Jay Hopler: ([link removed]) “The words themselves are everything: it’s not what you’re saying, not about content—it doesn’t actually even matter what you’re saying. How you’re saying IS what you’re saying.”

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The PEN Ten with Ada Limón: ([link removed]) “I want to be as free as anyone to write what they want to write and to be human in all those beautiful, necessary, and urgent ways.”

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The PEN Ten with Grzegorz Kwiatkowski: ([link removed]) “I think that the moral scandal of crimes and tragedies is visible especially when we see not only victims but also perpetrators and observers. These three perspectives are crucial to see a kind of genocide landscape, to make it more visible.”
From Our Partners
Join the Asian American Writers Workshop at Page Turner ([link removed])
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Join the Asian American Writers' Workshop at PAGE TURNER, our annual publishing conference. Centering the work and experiences of writers of color, we'll convene experts and authors across industries and genres to share candid insights and advice. Use the code FRIENDOFAAWW for discounted tickets at aaww.org/pubcon22 ([link removed]) ››

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