Awards

Nine of the ten authors longlisted for the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Award have withdrawn their books from consideration, as part of a continued boycott of PEN America over the organization’s response to the war in Gaza. Camille Dungy’s SOIL is currently the book that remains. In a statement provided by her publisher, Dungy said, “Right now in America, book bans are increasing at an alarming rate. In states like the one where I live—Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Iowa—such bans are putting young people at risk, particularly Black, Brown, queer, and trans youths who can’t access books that represent and affirm who […]

In a continuation of the protests against PEN America over their response to the war in Gaza, some authors have withdrawn from PEN awards consideration. The move comes as various authors have removed themselves from participating in the PEN World Voices Festival, more than 1300 writers have signed an open letter urging PEN to respond to the deaths of writers and scholars in Gaza, and protestors disrupted a January PEN event that featured Israel supporter Mayim Bialik. Camonghne Felix shared on social media that her book DYSCALCULIA was set to be longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein award. She declined before […]