‘James Baldwin didn’t have to go out and get votes,’ says Barack Obama in a taped interview in the PEN America gala.
PEN America Names First Recipients of L’Engle-Rahman Prize
Based in PEN’s long-running program of writing mentorship for prison inmates, the new prize recognizes four pairs of mentors and mentees .
PEN America, Penguin Random House Partner on ‘Book the Vote’
First rolled out during the 2018 US midterm elections, the ‘Book the Vote’ program offers voter information and political literature.
Vietnamese Publishing House Co-Founder Arrested Ahead of Frankfurt Appearance
The IPA Prix Voltaire-winning author and former spokesperson is reported to have been arrested in Ho Chi Minh City.
PEN America Names Ayad Akhtar Its Next President
Following Jennifer Egan in the post, the playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar takes up the PEN America presidency in December.
PEN America Releases 111 New Essays of Solidarity for the Future
Voices from across the spectrum of cultural observation look at the dynamics of the moment and predict how ‘We Will Emerge’ from the fray.
Industry Notes: Kuwait Curtails Censorship; Hong Kong Sees Campus Concerns
A Kuwaiti ministry no longer is to gauge content, as professors in the States worry about Chinese oversight of remote studies in Hong Kong.
Political Books: PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel ‘Dares To Speak’
From the leadership of PEN America, a HarperCollins release enters the summer’s fray of free-speech debates amid charges of ‘cancel culture.’
IPA, PEN America Blast Vietnam’s ‘Crackdown on Independent Media’
With the 2020 Prix Voltaire winner losing a key author under safety concerns, the International Publishers Association appeals to Hanoi for restraint.
PEN America: Chinese Essayist Xu Zhiyong Wins Barbey/Freedom To Write Award
On the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the writer Xu Zhiyong is named PEN America’s 2020 winner of the Barbey/Freedom To Write Award.