PEN America - The Freedom to Write Overview & Contact Data

PEN America is a literary human rights organization that defends the freedom to write, publish, and teach in the United States and abroad. Founded in 1922, the organization works at the intersection of literature, public policy, and civil liberties, responding to threats against writers, books, classrooms, and creative speech. Its mission is simple but demanding: protect expression when it is most vulnerable, whether a novel is targeted by a book ban, a professor faces pressure over course material, or a writer risks retaliation for reporting, publishing, or speaking out. The organization serves authors, poets, editors, publishers, scholars, students, journalists, and readers who depend on open access to ideas. PEN America addresses issues such as book bans, academic freedom, censorship in schools and public libraries, surveillance of writers, and attacks on press and literary expression. It also supports writers at risk, including those facing imprisonment, exile, harassment, or professional retaliation for their work. Through advocacy, public education, grants, events, and its Authors’ Evenings programs, PEN America builds a broader public understanding of why creative speech matters to democracy and cultural life. The site functions as a central hub for news, campaigns, reports, resources, and opportunities related to literary freedom. Readers can learn about current threats to books and speech, explore case studies involving banned titles and academic disputes, and find ways to support writers and publishers. For anyone searching for PEN America, PEN American, or PEN org, the website offers a focused point of entry into the organization’s work, from defending individual authors and challenging book bans to shaping public conversation around write freedom and the freedom to write.