Lemn Sissay has named Ethiopia’s Befeqadu Hailu to English PEN’s Honor. And PEN America’s Jennifer Egan blasts the Nobel’s choice of Peter Handke.
Human Rights Proponents Hail Mauritania’s Release of Mkhaïtir
Just days before a peaceful transfer of power in Nouakchot, writer Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaïtir was released and removed from the country for safety.
Words Without Borders June: ‘The Queer I’ in Early Summer
‘Words Without Borders’ brings together translations from Korean, Chinese, Icelandic, French, and more, all on topics relative to sexuality and identity.
PEN America Slams Trump, English PEN Names Sissay for Pinter Prize
PEN chapters on both sides of the Atlantic are launching new criticism of Donald Trump and a 2019 Pinter Prize laureate in the UK.
PEN America Names Its 2019 Literary Award Laureates: $370,000 in Winnings
The best literature, says PEN America president Jennifer Egan at the organization’s 2019 awards in New York City ’embodies hard truths, contradictions, and discoveries.’
PEN America Approaches Its Awards Night With News Media Appearances
Ahead of PEN America’s literary awards night, the organization’s president Jennifer Egan tells CNN, ‘I feel like the next phase is going to be an engagement with the truth.’
PEN America Files an Amicus Brief on the Right to Literacy in the States
In their filing PEN’s attorneys write that ‘One clear effect of the lack of access to literacy education is the inability to critically analyze “fake news.”‘
International Rights Organizations Issue Unified Demand to Mauritania for Mkhaitir’s Release
Mauritania has yet to release writer Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaïtir, convicted of blasphemy, a year after his official release date.
PEN America Sues Donald Trump: ‘Standing Up to These Encroachments’
Focusing on what it describes as Trump’s assaults on the news media and violations of the First Amendment, PEN America has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump.
PEN America Announces Refocused Short Story Debut Award, the Bingham Prize
The coming together of the United States’ two PEN chapters has given the organization a chance to refocus its Bingham Prize for debut short stories, and it will be awarded in February.