Join banned authors and illustrators in fighting for free expression

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]


** Breaking: Nearly 300 Books Banned in Missouri
------------------------------------------------------------


** Join PEN America, Spiegelman, Atwood, Gaiman
and say “no” to book bans in Missouri
------------------------------------------------------------

PEN America and more than 20 banned authors and illustrators — including Lois Lowry, Roxane Gay, Juno Dawson, Maia Kobabe, Carmen Maria Machado, Rupi Kaur, among others — are asking Missouri schools to reverse their dangerous book bans.

Missouri has banned nearly 300 books this fall, including Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus, and graphic novel adaptations of George Orwell’s 1984, The Bible, and the Gettysburg Address.

These alarming book bans have been in response to a new Missouri law that contains a provision establishing a criminal penalty for providing “explicit sexual material” to students.

The bans represent a grave threat to the freedom to read and will affect students across the state. And they are just one example of a larger effort to censor books in schools across the US that continues to evolve, with mass removals of books ([link removed]) , new legislative proposals targeting publishers ([link removed]) , and the passage of restrictive school district policies ([link removed]) .

Read more about the Missouri bans on PEN.org ([link removed]) and sign your name to PEN America’s open letter asking Missouri schools to reverse these bans.

ADD YOUR NAME TO THE OPEN LETTER ([link removed])


** Fight Book Bans with PEN America
------------------------------------------------------------

A donation to PEN America supports our ability to uncover and protest book bans across the country.
Donate ([link removed])
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed]

Get More News, Events, and Updates from PEN America › ([link removed])

Copyright © 2022 PEN America, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this e-mail because you opted in at PEN.org or a PEN America-sponsored event.

Our mailing address is:
PEN America
588 Broadway
Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) .