How we're fighting back

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Book bans and restrictions are on the rise in classrooms and libraries across the country. Starting this weekend, for Banned Books Week 2022 (Sept. 17-24), we invite readers, authors, educators, librarians, and everyone who opposes censorship in America to get involved.

Join us as we confront the historic rise in book bans ([link removed]) , organize our communities ([link removed]) across the country, and discuss ways to fight back and celebrate marginalized voices ([link removed]) .

Stay tuned for a major update to our groundbreaking April 2022 report, Banned in the USA ([link removed]) , coming this Monday.
FIGHT BACK WITH US ([link removed])


** Join us for events (both in person and digital) across the country.
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** The Assault on Black Thought: Book Banning in Florida ([link removed])
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** Saturday, Sept. 17 | 8pm ET
Books & Books
265 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134
305 442 4408
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On September 17, join PEN America Miami/South Florida Chapter, Miami Book Fair, and Books & Books for a Banned Books Week, free speech-centered discussion. Moderated by Nadege Green and featuring contributors to The 1619 Project, acclaimed author Darryl Pinckney, and award-winning poet Danez Smith, this in-person conversation will examine the recent censorious threats in Florida and the power of black literature to spur important cultural conversations. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Band Against the Ban in Arizona ([link removed])
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** Sunday, Sept.18 | 5pm MT
Changing Hands Bookstore
300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013
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Join the PEN Arizona Chapter in Phoenix as it welcomes local leaders and writers in support of free expression during Banned Books Week 2022. These speakers include Arizona Senator Christine Marsh, American Civil Liberties Union Policy Director Darrell Hill, and veteran Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini. The evening will include education on the current environment of book bans in Arizona, banned-book readings by local writers, socializing, a photo booth, and tips for how to band against book banning in our state. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** [VIRTUAL] Banned Books, Fahrenheit 451, and the Division Censorship Creates ([link removed])
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** Monday, Sept. 19 | 7pm CT
Digital Event

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Join PEN Across America, Mount Vernon Public Library, and Banned Book Week Chairs Alyssa Gómez Lawrence and Debbie Nabubwaya Chambers for an online discussion of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Fahrenheit 451, and the issues the book raises around censorship and free expression. This discussion will examine the history of banned books, our current censorious moment, and the path toward a free and enlightened culture. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** [VIRTUAL] The Book Ban Wave: Educational Censorship in SoCal ([link removed])
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** Tuesday Sept. 20 | 6pm PT
Digital Event
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Join author and Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week 2022 George M. Johnson, student activist Madison Clevenger, parent and advocate Brooke Harper, and author and historian of American education Michael Hines for a panel discussion on the story of educational censorship in Southern California and how it is impacting our communities. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Banned Book Week Social Hour in Durham, North Carolina ([link removed])
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** Tuesday, Sept. 20 | 6:30pm ET
Queeny’s
321 E. Chapel Hill Street Suite 100
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PEN Piedmont North Carolina, in partnership with the North Carolina Writers Network, will be hosting a free speech “social cocktail hour” with drinks, appetizers, and an opportunity for free speech advocates, librarians, authors, and the general public to share their thoughts and possible advocacy tools regarding the recent wave of book bans. We will be joined by author Alicia D Williams, journalist and author Lewis Raven Wallace, and Wake County librarian Kristel Behrend. Join us as we reflect, organize, and prepare to defend the freedom to read. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Restricted Access: The American History of Book Banning ([link removed])
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** Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 6pm ET
New York Public Library: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, South Court Auditorium
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018
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Join PEN America and the New York Public Library for a conversation about the history of book banning and obscenity laws at the Stephen A. Schwarzman building. Ali Velshi will moderate a panel with author Laurie Halse Anderson, and scholars Farah Jasmine Griffin, Whitney Strub, and Amy Werbel. Actor André de Shields, the star of the upcoming revival of Death of a Salesman, will open the evening reading a passage from Toni Morrison. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Resisting Censorship in Austin – a Community Reading of Banned Books ([link removed])
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** Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 6pm CT
Spider House Ballroom
Austin, TX
2908 Fruth St, Austin, TX 78705
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There has been a deluge of book bans in Texas. PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans has listed 1,586 instances of individual books being banned within a nine-month period, 712 from the state of Texas alone. PEN Austin is hosting a community reading of banned books by local leaders of free expression. Hosted at The Ballroom, in partnership with the Austin Library Foundation, this event is an opportunity to gather as proponents of free speech and celebrate the diversity of voices in Austin. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Banned Books and Body Autonomy in Birmingham ([link removed])
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** Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 6:30pm CT
Burdock Book Collective
4413 5th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35222
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Join PEN Birmingham for an intimate conversation centering the issue of restrictive book bans targeting women, queer, trans and intersex people in an era of increasing threats to body autonomy. PEN Birmingham Chapter co-leader Alina Stefanescu will be joined by TKO Society’s Financial Director and Reproductive Justice Director Jennine Bell and University of Alabama Gender Historian Heather Kopelson for a conversation reflecting on the state of body autonomy and censorship amidst change. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** [VIRTUAL] Defending LGBTQ Literature in Oklahoma ([link removed])
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** Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 7pm CT
Digital Event
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Join PEN Tulsa for a virtual conversation addressing the homophobia and transphobia embedded in the recent wave of book bans in Oklahoma and across the country. Moderated by Tulsa-based writer and publisher Ryan Fitzgibbon, the conversation will feature celebrated author and illustrator Mike Curato and PEN Across America Director Program William Johnson. This conversation will offer strategies on how to push back against the recent book bans, while also offering a space to celebrate queer literature in all of its forms. Register › ([link removed]) ›

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** Free Speech & Banned Books: A Conversation with Azar Nafisi ([link removed])
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** Thursday, Sept. 22 | 4pm MT
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
410 Campus Center Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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PEN America Utah, the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, and author Azar Nafisi are partnering for an in-person conversation at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on the role that the humanities and liberal arts play in the preservation of democracy. This discussion will draw upon Nafisi’s own experiences of dealing with censorship, documented in her memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, to look at how essential the written word is in preserving free expression. Nafisi will also be discussing her new book Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** [VIRTUAL] From Howl to Now: Book Bans in the U.S. ([link removed])
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** Thursday, Sept. 22 | 6pm PT
Digital Event
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In this event, PEN America and Bay Area authors will come together to discuss the alarming rise in book bans across the country, sharing insights, observations, and methods to counter the suppression of books that address issues pertaining to race, gender, and sexuality. Moderated by Ipek Burnett with appearances by Marcus Ewert, Justin Hall, Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes and Dashka Slater. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Let’s Get Organized: Fighting Book Bans Together ([link removed])
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** Saturday, Sept. 24 | 1pm ET
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G St NW, Washington, DC 20001
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National Book Award–honored author Kyle Lukoff (Too Bright to See, 2021 Young People’s Literature Finalist), DC Public Library Teen Services Coordinator Joanna Harris, and Managing Director of PEN America Washington and Free Expression Programs Nadine Farid Johnson sit down to discuss the value of writing, publishing, and access to diverse books, and how we can come together and unite against book banning. Register ›› ([link removed])

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** Celebrating Black Gay Literature Amidst a Wave of Book Bans ([link removed])
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** Saturday, Sept. 24 | 6pm CT
Source Booksellers
4240 Cass Ave UNIT 105, Detroit, MI 48201
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Join PEN America Detroit for an in-person discussion on the anti-Blackness and homophobia inherent in the slate of book bans around the country. This conversation will offer strategies on how to push back against the recent book bans, while also offering a space to celebrate black gay literature in all of its permutations. Moderated by Amber Ogden, the PEN Detroit Chapter leader, and featuring Aaron Foley, author of Boys Come First, this conversation will reflect on the wave of censorship stifling the freedom to read, and the extraordinary power of marginalized voices. Register ›› ([link removed])

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