Monday, Sept. 12 | 4pm ET
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
Join PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel and President Ayad Akhtar for an afternoon of public conversation with world-renowned authors and staunch advocates for the freedom to write including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Dave Eggers, and Salman Rushdie*. The speakers will reflect on milestone moments in PEN America's history and current-day silencing, charting the ways in which writing and free speech are being challenged through book bans, educational gag orders, online harassment, self-censorship, and the detention of journalists and artists worldwide. Reserve your seat ››
∗ PEN America is working with those closest to Salman Rushdie to determine how the Symposium can best honor his work and voice as he recovers from severe injuries in an attack chillingly linked to the themes of this event and PEN America’s work to defend and celebrate free expression.
Wednesday, Sept. 14 – Sunday, Sept. 18 | 8pm – 10pm ET
Rockefeller Center
45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111
On five nights in September, the renowned artist Jenny Holzer will celebrate PEN America’s century-long defense of the written word with a powerful new series of light projections. The facades of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and 610 and 620 Fifth Avenue will be lit with selected passages from gifted writers and artists who have supported PEN America’s vital work to protect free expression, including Ayad Akhtar, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Margaret Atwood, Ron Chernow, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joy Harjo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yoon Ha Lee, Toni Morrison, Alejandro Zambra, and Nadya Tolokonnikova of the performance art group Pussy Riot. Learn more ››
Submissions for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction are due today, Sept. 1st! The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction is a career-founding prize, which promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. Don't miss out on your chance to submit ››
Friday Sept. 2 | 7pm CT
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
520 16th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203
This event is the first in a series of forthcoming events within the Birmingham Reads Project. This year’s selection is South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry. This event will feature poetry readings by Ashley M. Jones, Alina Stefanescu, and Keimaya Downey. African drumming and dance will be presented by Sahi On Ko Djony, and the Ursula Smith Dance Company will lead a book-inspired dancing workshop for all attendees. Register here ››
The PEN Ten with Eloisa Amezcua:“I think it’s important as writers to remind ourselves that we have an active role in defining the world around us, in shaping the spaces we inhabit and move through or between, and in uplifting the voices that represent who we are and who we hope to become.”
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