Judy Blume, James Patterson and other authors are helping PEN America open Florida office
Judy Blume, James Patterson and Michael Connelly are among 24 prominent writers who have raised more than $3 million to help PEN America open a center in Miami and expand it efforts to counter Floridaโs surge in book bannings in recent years.
George C. Wolfe, Anne Carson win PEN achievement awards
FILE - Playwright George C. Wolfe attends a special screening of "Fences", in New York on Dec. 19, 2016. Wolfe and the Canadian poet-translator Anne Carson are among this years winners of PEN America awards for career achievement. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK โ Tony Award-winner George C. Wolfe and Canadian poet-translator Anne Carson are among this year's winners of PEN America awards for career achievement. AdโAmong this yearโs winners are revolutionaries, icons, and trailblazers,โ PEN Americaโs Jane Marchant, director of the Literary Awards program, said in a statement. โBy poetry, translation, screenwriting, dramaturgy, performance writing, and the art of editing, these honorees transform the arc of the literary canon and infuse it with striking originality.โThe winners will formally receive their awards during an April 8 ceremony.
Penguin Random House, PEN America team up to Book the Vote
NEW YORK โ Neil Gaiman, Anita Hill and Ann Patchett will be among the contributors to Book the Vote, an online initiative to provide information on the electoral system, voting registration and civic topics. Book the Vote is a collaboration among Penguin Random House, PEN America, the non-profit organization When We All Vote and the literary retailer Out of Print, which is owned by Penguin Random House. One feature is called โHow America Worksโ and covers four topics: the right to vote, voting for the president, the Supreme Court and the electoral college. โTruth, facts, press freedom, and the future of open discourse are all on the ballot this November,โ PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement. Noseel and Penguin Random House U.S. CEO Madeline McIntosh said they were pleased to be working together to provide credible and authoritative information about the U.S. election and voting rights.
Chinese dissident Xu Zhiyong to be honored by PEN America
NEW YORK Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese activist and legal scholar detained by the government since earlier this year, is being honored by PEN America. Xu's award comes on the 31st anniversary of the so-called Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Chinese soldiers shot and killed pro-democracy demonstrators. The 47-year-old Xu has strongly criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. You didnt authorise the truth to be released, and the outbreak turned into a national disaster, Xu wrote in February, shortly before he was detained. PEN will highlight Xu's life and work at its annual gala, scheduled for December 8 in Manhattan after being postponed from May because of the coronavirus.