In this week’s PEN Ten interview, we’re diving into not one but two upcoming releases. Take a peek at what Japanese author Yamazaki Nao-Cola told us about their two U.S. publication debuts, Don’t Laugh at Other People’s Sex Lives and Beautiful Distance: pen.org/nao-cola-yam...

PEN America's response to a federal judge’s ruling today that temporarily restores the White House access of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico: “President Trump swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, then trampled on the First Amendment.... www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/b...

Court Blocks Trump’s White House Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico (Gift Article)

Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued a temporary restraining order and told the White House to immediately restore the press credentials for the employees of the three news outlets.

nytimes.com

🧵As Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets U.S. president Donald Trump this week, we urge you to remember the names of writers currently imprisoned in China, to read words from them and their loved ones, and to call for these writers’ releases.

The principle that people have the right to tell their stories & history in their mother tongue is central to Crimean Tatar writer & PEN Ukraine member Alim Aliiev's work. Learn more about his work and how to purchase Crimean Fig, a Crimean Tatar poetry/fiction anthology at: pen.org/alim-aliiev-...

Announcing "Election Ready": A webinar series from the U.S. Journalist Assistance Network and its partners to help you and your newsroom prepare, stay safe, and respond when challenges arise during election reporting. Learn more and register at: https://pen.org/election-ready/

After Cobb County, Georgia pulled Toni Morrison’s "The Bluest Eye" from the shelves of its public school libraries, PEN America's Kasey Meehan told Fox News that Morrison’s works are often targeted using excerpts that are taken out of context. More at: www.foxnews.com/media/georgi...

"“As we’ve seen time and time again, this administration’s hostility toward the press is never about the accuracy of news stories, but about its inability to withstand scrutiny of its actions", says @timrichardson.bsky.social Journalism and disinformation! program director @penamerica.bsky.social

The Christian Science Monitor@csmonitor.bsky.social · 3d ago

President Donald Trump’s move to restrict prominent news organizations heightens questions about press freedom that have been growing in his second term. #trump #press #whitehouse #news www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

In an op-ed for @thehill.com, CPJ’s Loghman Fattahi writes, “The Trump administration has shown itself to be unabashedly antagonistic toward the media.” And the most egregious acts, he says, have been tied to Trump’s immigration crackdown. thehill.com/opinion/whit...

Why is the Trump administration targeting foreign journalists?

A new policy disturbingly echoes those found in Russia, China and Iran, which use strict visa compliance rules to punish journalists and media outlets that report on their governments unfavorably. …

thehill.com

PEN America calls for the release of Miami-based journalist Luis Galeano, detained by ICE while working as a rideshare driver. Galeano, director of Café con Voz, has a pending asylum case after fleeing Nicaragua. Journalists seeking asylum must be able to work without retaliation.

Nora Benavidez@attorneynora.bsky.social · 6d ago

A coalition of more than a dozen leading global press freedom groups have released a joint statement urging Luis Galeano's freedom. www.freepress.net/news/press-f...

In response to President Trump’s social media post that he intends to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation director at PEN America, said: “Someone needs to explain to President Trump how the First Amendment works. ... (1/3)

John Green, Lois Lowry, and Rick Riordan Among Authors on Florida DOE’s List of 600+ Banned Books pen.org/florida-600-...

John Green, Lois Lowry, Rick Riordan Among Authors on Florida DOE’s List of 600+ Banned Books

More than 600 books were banned from schools in 10 of Florida’s districts during the 2025–26 academic year.

pen.org

No more book bans: how Florida students are pushing rightwingers out of school boards https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/18/florida-activists-rightwing-school-boards

No more book bans: how Florida students are pushing rightwingers out of school boards

Local communities are fighting back against the influence of conservative groups like Moms for Liberty in education

theguardian.com

NYC! Join us for a screening of First They Came for My College and a Q&A moderated by @jonfreadom.bsky.social, Managing Director of PEN America U.S. Free Expression Programs, at Firehouse Cinema on Saturday, September 26 at 1 PM. Register here: pen.org/event/screen...

Today, we join 10 rights groups in calling on Israeli authorities to immediately end the harassment campaign against “NAZA” filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Punishing artists for their work sets a dangerous precedent for press and artistic freedom everywhere. More: cpj.org/2026/09/cpj-...

CPJ, partners call on Israel to protect NAZA filmmakers’ fundamental rights - Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 10 international press freedom organizations are calling on Israeli authorities to protect the safety and fundamental rights of Israeli investigative journalis...

cpj.org

Join the Prison and Justice Writing Program for “Other Things Unspoken: Celebrating the PEN Prison Writing Awards,” a 2026 @bkbookfest.bsky.social Bookend event featuring the work of incarcerated writers. Wed, 9/23 at 7pm in NYC. RSVP here: brooklynbookfestival.org/event/other-... #bkbf2026

#HispanicHeritageMonth is here! Our staff has curated a booklist to celebrate Hispanic heritage with 30 titles. From a cookbook memoir to romantic historical fiction to dystopian gothic, it’s impossible not to find the next book to add to your tbr! See the full list: bookshop.org/lists/2026-h...

2026 Hispanic Heritage Month Reading List

Amid the administration’s crackdown on immigration and rising anxiety over detentions and deportations, join us in uplifting Hispanic culture and history through literature. Below is a curated list of...

bookshop.org

The first full episode of Liberating Lit is live. I talk with @tasslyn.bsky.social about what got her started in anti-censorship work, what keeps her going, and what advice she'd give to new and long-time advocates. Tune in on the Liberating Lit website: www.liberatinglit.com/episodes/epi...

Episode One: Tasslyn Magnusson — Liberating Lit

Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson has been tracking book bans since 2021. But her work is much more than simply counting–it’s helping motivate other people nationwide to get to work protecting the right to read. ...

liberatinglit.com

PEN America today announced the selection of award-winning novelist, essayist, and professor Phil Klay to serve as our president and chair of the Board of Trustees. Read the full announcement: https://pen.org/press-release/award-winning-author-phil-klay-named-president-of-pen-america/

Award-Winning Author Phil Klay Named President of PEN America

PEN America today announced the selection of award-winning novelist, essayist, and professor Phil Klay to serve as its president and chair of the Board of Trustees of the 104-year-old writers organiza...

pen.org

I’m honored to serve as the President of PEN/America, which has been defending free expression and celebrating literature for over a hundred years.  pen.org/press-releas...

Award-Winning Author Phil Klay Named President of PEN America

PEN America today announced the selection of award-winning novelist, essayist, and professor Phil Klay to serve as its president and chair of the Board of Trustees of the 104-year-old writers organiza...

pen.org

“The Only Failure Is Not Writing”: In a new interview, poet Charles Jensen, Director of PEN America’s Los Angeles office, discusses grief-gazing, memoirizing, and the liberation in hybridity in his memoir, SPLICE OF LIFE https://thirdwheelpodcast.substack.com/p/ep-1-the-only-failure-is-not-writing

Ep. 1: “The Only Failure is Not Writing” With Charles Jensen

Ja’net and Kiana chat with poet Charles Jensen on grief-gazing, memoirizing, and the liberation in hybridity in his memoir, SPLICE OF LIFE.

thirdwheelpodcast.substack.com

🧵 We are saddened by the loss of Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and longtime PEN America member Annie Dillard. Her 1974 book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, published when she was just 28, won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1975. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...

Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81 (Gift Article)

Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.

nytimes.com

We join @penbelarus.bsky.social and @peninternational.bsky.social in welcoming the release of Belarusian cultural figures, and echo calls to #FreeThemAll.

PEN International@peninternational.bsky.social · last wk.

#Belarus: We welcome the long-awaited release of cultural figures Andrej Alaksandraŭ, Dzmitryj Kołas and Dzmitryj Hałavač. We urge justice for the violations they suffered, including their forced exile, and call for an end to the repression. #FreeThemAll www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

This Friday in Miami Beach: Join PEN America Florida for "First They Came for My College", a documentary about the transformation of New College of Florida and its impact on students, faculty, and academic freedom. Details and tickets: https://pen.org/event/screening-first-they-came-for-my-college/

Screening: First They Came For My College

Join PEN America Florida for a special screening of First They Came for My College, a new feature documentary that follows the story of New College of Florida during its unprecedented takeover by Gove...

pen.org

Vietnam is among the world's top jailers of writers and journalists. Ahead of General Secretary To Lam’s visit to the US, a coalition of human rights organizations urge Secretary Rubio to press Vietnam to release jailed writers like Le Huu Minh Tuan and Pham Doan Trang. pen.org/press-releas...

Joint Letter to US State Department on Vietnamese Imprisoned Writers

In a joint letter to Marco Rubio, PEN America called for the immediate release of unjustly imprisoned Vietnamese journalists and writers.

pen.org

Judge blocks Trump administration’s restrictions on visas for foreign students and journalists, a rejection of efforts to use the immigration system to control the press. Journalists and students must be free to report & learn without fear of government retaliation. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...

Judge Blocks Trump Rule Aimed at International Students and Journalists

Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote that the administration’s reasons for a rule limiting the length of stay for academics and journalists were “exceptionally weak.”

nytimes.com

Full statement from PEN America's Jonathan Friedman today on the removal of Macklemore from Ed Sheeran's tour.

During his tenure, Ron DeSantis has “made public education an apparatus of the state,” PEN America's William Johnson tells The Guardian, ensuring that DeSantis-appointed loyalists will remain in positions of power in Florida even after he leaves office. Read more: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

“The options are fewer and farther away in rural communities, so removing a book from a school library can have a greater practical effect on whether a young person can obtain it,” William Johnson of @penamerica.bsky.social said. www.cfpublic.org/education/20...

Nearly 600 books were banned from Florida schools last year

The removals were reported in just 10 of Florida’s 67 school districts. Three are in Central Florida: Orange, Polk and Sumter counties.

cfpublic.org

10/10: Elliot Page and Drew Denny, the narrator and director of the documentary SECOND NATURE, will join evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden, authors Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson & PEN America for an online screening and conversation about scientific censorship: pen.org/press-releas...

Documentary Film SECOND NATURE to be Screened Virtually October 10, With Conversation Raising Concerns Over Government Censorship of Science

Elliot Page and Drew Denny, the narrator and director of the documentary SECOND NATURE, will join trailblazing evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden, authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson ...

pen.org

‘We’re Coming for the Books’ There's a great article on @penamerica.bsky.social about the book banning situation in Texas, but I'm especially partial to the last paragraph. Our new edition, with a chapter about Texas book banning will be out in time for #bannedbooksweek