Novelist Dinaw Mengestu was elected president of PEN America. He succeeds Jennifer Finney Boylan.
“Dinaw Mengestu has spent his career illuminating the borders between countries, histories, and identities, and bringing readers into the lives of those too often pushed to the margins,” said PEN interim ceo and chief of Free Expression programs Summer Lopez. “As he steps into the role of PEN America president, his unwavering commitment to free expression, his advocacy for writers under threat around the world, and his profound belief in literature”s power to humanize across deep divides will guide the organization through this pivotal moment for democracy and the written word.”
