PEN America

PEN America is a nonprofit literary and free-expression organization headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1922 as the American branch of the international PEN movement, it brings together writers, journalists, translators, publishers, educators, artists, and other supporters of literature and open expression. The organization is part of the broader PEN International network, which originated in London in 1921 as an effort to build fellowship among writers across national and cultural boundaries after the First World War. The organization combines cultural programming with advocacy. Its literary work includes the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, public conversations, author events, fellowships, and the annual PEN America Literary Awards. The awards recognize achievement in fiction, poetry, drama, science writing, essays, biography, children's literature, translation, and emerging writing. PEN America also operates or supports programs intended to broaden access to literary careers and audiences, including initiatives for emerging writers, migrant writers, incarcerated writers, translators, and communities historically underrepresented in publishing. Free expression is the other central part of PEN America's work. The organization campaigns for writers and journalists facing imprisonment, censorship, intimidation, violence, or other retaliation because of their work. It publishes research and policy analysis on press freedom, disinformation, online abuse, campus expression, artistic freedom, and educational censorship. In the United States, its recent work has placed particular emphasis on book removals and restrictions in schools, state-level educational censorship measures, and the effect of such policies on students, teachers, authors, and publishers. PEN America also provides practical support. Its Prison and Justice Writing Program supplies incarcerated writers with educational resources, mentoring, contests, and routes to publication. The Writers' Emergency Fund assists professional writers experiencing acute financial emergencies, while the organization's free-expression campaigns seek remedies for writers and journalists whose rights are threatened. Its Online Harassment Field Manual and related workshops address digital abuse, trolling, hateful speech, and safety planning for people whose work makes them vulnerable online. The organization has maintained offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and expanded its United States presence to Florida in the early 2020s. It has used litigation as an advocacy tool, including a 2018 lawsuit concerning alleged presidential retaliation against unfavorable reporting and a 2023 challenge to book bans in Florida's Escambia County School District. PEN America celebrated its centenary in 2022 through public events, a historical exhibition, and an art installation at Rockefeller Center. Its name originally referred to poets, essayists, and novelists, and was later broadened to include playwrights and editors; as its membership became more inclusive, the United States organization increasingly treated PEN as a name rather than a fixed acronym.

PEN America was established in New York City on April 19, 1922, shortly after the creation of PEN International in London. The international organization had been founded in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson-Scott, with John Galsworthy as its first president, to encourage literary fellowship across national and ethnic divisions. The American center adopted the movement's commitment to international literary exchange and the principles later expressed in the PEN International Charter. Its early membership included prominent American writers such as Willa Cather, Eugene O'Neill, Robert Frost, Ellen Glasgow, Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Robert Benchley, with Booth Tarkington serving as the first president. The name PEN originally functioned as an acronym associated with poets, essayists, and novelists. As the movement expanded, the letters were also interpreted as including playwrights and editors. In the United States, the organization eventually moved away from treating the term as a strict acronym, reflecting a broader membership of people working across literature, publishing, journalism, and freedom-of-expression advocacy. For much of its history, PEN America combined literary sociability with international solidarity. It organized author events, supported exchanges among writers, and spoke out for individuals whose ability to write or publish was threatened by governments or political forces. The organization developed campaigns for imprisoned and persecuted writers and later broadened its work to include journalists, artists, translators, and other creators. The PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award became an annual vehicle for highlighting writers who continued their work despite repression. PEN America's literary programming grew to include the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, founded by Salman Rushdie after the September 11 attacks. The festival was designed to create dialogue between the United States and the wider world and became a major US event centered on international literature and human rights. The organization also established a substantial awards program recognizing books and writers across genres, including debut authors, writers of color, translators, poets, dramatists, essayists, biographers, and children's authors. The Prison and Justice Writing Program, founded in 1971, became one of the organization's longest-running access and inclusion initiatives. It provides writing materials and guidance to incarcerated people, sponsors competitions, offers mentoring, and helps bring prison writing to public audiences. Related activities have included the Writers' Emergency Fund, the Emerging Voices Fellowship, DREAMing Out Loud for migrant writers, translation-related work, and workshops for workers and communities outside traditional literary institutions. In the twenty-first century, PEN America increasingly emphasized US free-expression disputes alongside international writer protection. Its programs addressed campus speech, artistic freedom, press freedom, disinformation, online abuse, and educational censorship. The organization launched its Online Harassment Field Manual in 2018 and developed research tracking school book restrictions through the Banned in the USA series. It has also used federal and constitutional litigation to challenge alleged government retaliation and school-district book bans. PEN America marked its hundredth anniversary in 2022 with a major public celebration, a historical exhibition, and a light installation by Jenny Holzer at Rockefeller Center. By the early 2020s, it operated from offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., with an additional Florida presence. The organization continues to combine literary events and prizes with advocacy for writers, readers, educators, journalists, and communities facing censorship or intimidation.

• 2023

  Florida book-ban litigation

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  PEN America and allied plaintiffs challenge book restrictions imposed by the Escambia County School District.

• 2022

  Centenary year

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  PEN America celebrates 100 years through events, a New-York Historical Society exhibition, and a Rockefeller Center installation.

• 2018

  Online Harassment Field Manual launches

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  PEN America publishes practical guidance for writers and journalists facing digital abuse and threats.

• 2001

  PEN World Voices is established

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Salman Rushdie helps create an international literary festival intended to strengthen dialogue between US and global writers after September 11.

• 1971

  Prison Writing Program begins

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  PEN America establishes a program providing incarcerated writers with resources, mentoring, contests, and public audiences.

• 1922

  PEN America is founded in New York

  [1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  The American PEN center is formed on April 19 with a membership that includes several leading US writers.

A US literary institution positioned at the intersection of literature, human rights, and free-expression defense, combining cultural prestige with public-interest advocacy.

• Literary festival · 2001

  PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature

  An annual US festival featuring international authors, panels, lectures, and conversations focused on literature, global exchange, and human rights. It was created in the aftermath of September 11 to encourage dialogue between American audiences and writers from around the world.

• Literary awards

  PEN America Literary Awards

  A broad annual awards program honoring books and writers in fiction, poetry, drama, science writing, essays, biography, children's literature, translation, and emerging writing. It includes major prizes such as the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and awards for debut books and writers of color.

• Human-rights award

  PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award

  An annual award highlighting writers who face imprisonment, persecution, censorship, or other serious threats because of their work. The award connects recognition with PEN America's wider campaigns for writers at risk.

• Writing support program · 1971

  Prison and Justice Writing Program

  A long-running program that supports incarcerated writers through a writing handbook, contests, mentoring, publications, readings, and public programming. It also supports broader discussion of incarceration and justice through creative writing.

• Research and advocacy series

  Banned in the USA

  A research series tracking book removals and restrictions in US public schools. The work documents the scale and characteristics of educational censorship and supports PEN America's legal and policy advocacy.

• Digital safety resource · 2018

  Online Harassment Field Manual

  A practical guide for writers, journalists, and other public-facing users dealing with online harassment, hateful speech, threats, and coordinated abuse. It offers safety planning, response options, and methods for reducing harm.

• Dispute over PEN America's position on the Gaza war

  Some authors reportedly sought removal of their names from PEN America-related award or literary materials because they disagreed with the organization's position or response concerning the war in Gaza. The supplied reference does not provide enough detail to establish the full scope or resolution of the dispute.

  Source

Read more

• 2024Disinformation and press-freedom advocacy

  United States

  PEN America developed work addressing disinformation and media literacy ahead of the US presidential election, with particular attention to Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

  Outcome. The organization continued publishing guidance and advocacy material on reliable news and the safety of journalists.

  Source
• 2023Escambia County book-ban challenge

  United States · Florida

  PEN America joined a constitutional challenge to book removals and restrictions in an Escambia County, Florida, school district, alongside Penguin Random House, affected authors, and parents.

  Outcome. The litigation became part of PEN America's continuing legal campaign against educational censorship; a final outcome is not established in the supplied material.

  Source

• 2023

  Expansion of litigation against educational censorshipStrategy

  Background

  Book removals and educational-censorship measures expanded across US school systems.

  Action taken

  PEN America pursued litigation with publishers, authors, and parents, beginning with a prominent challenge involving Escambia County, Florida.

  Aftermath

  The organization continued to use legal advocacy alongside research and public campaigning; the supplied material does not establish a final judicial resolution.

  Source

• 2022

  Centenary programOther

  Background

  PEN America reached its hundredth anniversary and sought to connect its historical literary role with contemporary free-expression advocacy.

  Action taken

  It organized anniversary events, a museum exhibition, and a public art installation.

  Aftermath

  The centenary increased public visibility for the organization's literary and human-rights mission.

  Source

• 2018

  Launch of digital-safety guidanceOther

  Background

  Writers and journalists were facing increasingly persistent online harassment and hateful campaigns.

  Action taken

  PEN America launched the Online Harassment Field Manual and related training.

  Aftermath

  The resource became part of the organization's digital-safety and writer-protection work.

  Source

• 2023

  PEN America files challenge to Escambia County school book restrictions[1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit · Regulation

  PEN America joined Penguin Random House, authors, and parents in litigation arguing that book removals and restrictions in Florida's Escambia County school district violated constitutional protections.

• 2022

  PEN America workers unionize[1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  PEN America staff announced an organizing effort, and the organization recognized the resulting union shortly after it was announced.

• 2022

  PEN America marks its centenary[1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign · Other

  The organization commemorated 100 years with literary programming, an exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, and a Jenny Holzer light projection at Rockefeller Center.

• 2018

  PEN America sues over alleged presidential retaliation against reporting[1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit

  The organization brought a lawsuit alleging that presidential use of official powers was intended to retaliate against unfavorable news coverage.

• 2018

  PEN America launches Online Harassment Field Manual[1]PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  PEN America introduced a practical resource for writers and journalists dealing with online harassment, threats, hateful speech, and trolling.

1. 1PEN Americaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2PEN America official websitepen.org