PEN America announced that it is embarking on an ambitious expansion of its programming centered on bolstering defense of press freedom across the country. Writers, journalists, readers and other members of PEN America and their allies interested in defending press freedom, sparking informed debate, and elevating less-heard voices can apply for grants and support as part of the new PEN Across America initiative and its cornerstone Press Freedom Incentive Fund.
PEN Across America responds to mounting threats to a free press and other free expression rights that are the foundation of our democracy. As an organization working at the intersection of literature and free expression, PEN America and its over 7,000 members across the country have a vital role to play in deepening their communities’ understanding of the role of a robust media in empowered civic life and mobilizing to defend news outlets, journalism, and the very concept of an independent press.
The Press Freedom Incentive Fund, first opened in 2017 and already active with PEN America communities in more than 20 cities, is open again to will provide resources, research, and expertise for a vibrant array of press freedom actions, including incisive public forums on how responsible journalism is done to research on “news deserts” and campaigns for news literacy. These efforts are set in the enlarged PEN Across America initiative to bring the full range of PEN America’s literary events with prominent and emerging writers, provocative Conversations of Consequence, campaigns for writers under threat, an upcoming series celebrating censored and challenged works as part of Banned Books Week starting September 23, and other programming to more communities across the country.
“At a time when our shared values are being questioned and threatened, our Members and allies are rising to the challenge and engaging their local communities to defend the pillars of our democracy,” said Katie Zanecchia, PEN America National Outreach Program Director. “In a difficult, even directly hostile, landscape for press freedom, PEN America’s constituents are shaping the conversation in regions across the country and we’re proud to be able to offer support for their visions.”
In its pilot year starting in 2017, the Press Freedom Incentive Fund supported initiatives by members, writers, and activists in more than 20 cities and regions and across divisions of ideology and experience to galvanize communities ready to defend press freedom, helping to strengthen the national constituency behind this critical cause. Using grants from the fund coupled with research, expert speakers, and support from PEN America’s New York City headquarters and offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., long-standing and newly joined members are mobilizing to demand and defend an independent and robust press as a foundation of democracy.
“During the first year of the program, PEN America Members hosted discussions, organized public actions, forged partnerships with local media, and so much more,” said Rebecca Stump, PEN America Director of Membership. “Our Members are front and center of activism to defend free expression, and we can’t wait to see what next year’s roster of engaging, enthusiastic, and impactful activities will bring.”
This initiative is undertaken with the generous support of the Democracy Fund, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Compton Foundation. PEN America is currently accepting proposals for projects and activities scheduled between now and March 31, 2019. More information.Application. (Grants are from $1,000 – $4,000)
Thomas Jefferson 1786 by Mather Brown / public domain
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” Thomas Jefferson
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. It champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Its mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. pen.org
Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. Currently I run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers.
My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.
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Last week PEN America announced the launch of the PEN/Edward Bunker Prize in Fiction. This to honor the legacy of the famed crime fiction author and screenwriter. The PEN/Bunker Prize will celebrate short works in fiction by writers who are currently incarcerated and will be presented for the first time as part of the PEN America’s 2019 Prison Writing Awards.
Public domain photograph of Edward Bunker taken at an unknown California prison.
EDWARD BUNKER, who became a prolific writer while incarcerated, leveraged the power of the writing process to reinvent himself into the iconic storyteller author and screenwriter we know today. Celebrated for conceiving some of the most gripping crime stories of our time, he penned numerous books, collaborated with celebrity A-listers like Quentin Tarantino and Danny Trejo, was a screenwriter on Straight Time (1978), Runaway Train (1985) and Animal Factory (2000), and acted alongside Hollywood elite in films such as The Running Man, Tango & Cash, and Reservoir Dogs. Thirteen years after his death, his legacy and the transformative power of writing continues through his family’s support of the PEN America Prison Writing Program.
In addition to a cash prize, each recipient will be paired with a writing mentor and given a clear Swintec typewriter—the only typewriter allowed in U.S. prisons, and the one used by Edward Bunker when he first began to write.
“Eddie Bunker’s inspirational legacy is threaded through the hundreds of submissions that pour into PEN America’s Prison Writing Awards each year,” said Caits Meissner, PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Program manager. “Like Eddie, our writers use the written word to expose the painful aspects of incarceration, as well as offer up moments of triumphant humanity that shine light into dark spaces. Thirteen years after his passing, we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue Eddie’s legacy of transformative writing with his family’s generous support of our program.”
“The Bunker prize is a perfect match for what PEN America is doing with the Prison and Justice Program—reaching out to prisoners who have turned to writing as a salvation, and hopefully a future. I wanted to bring hope and inspiration to those important voices out there that have value and need to be heard. And just as importantly, because our son, Brendan Bunker, sees this as one more way to keep his father and his work immortalized,” said Jennifer Steele, wife of Eddie Bunker.
PEN America’s Prison Writing Program, founded in 1971 in the wake of the Attica riots, advances the restorative, rehabilitative, and transformative possibilities of writing, and has offered many thousands of incarcerated writers free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work. A hallmark of the program is the PEN America Prison Writing Awards, which recognizes works by incarcerated writers inpoetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction, and memoir.
The crowded living quarters of San Quentin Prison in California, in January 2006. As a result of overcrowding in the California state prison system, the United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population (the second largest in the nation, after Texas). Public domain photograph
Every year hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to the Prison Writing Awards, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population.
This month, the first print anthology of award-winning works from the Prison Writing Awards will be published. And, yesterday, September 13, PEN America presented Break Out: Voices from the Inside at the Brooklyn Book Festival, featuring readings and artistic interpretations of works by incarcerated writers, staged by prominent authors on the outside. This is part of a series of events centered on mass incarceration and writers in prison. For more information visit the events calendar.
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PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. It champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Its mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. Currently I run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers.
My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
Oleg Gennadyevich Sentsov: Ukrainian filmmaker and writer, native of Crimea, best known for his 2011 film Gamer. Following the Russian annexation of Crimea he was arrested in Crimea and convicted to 20 years in jail by Russian court on charges of plotting terrorism acts. The conviction was widely described as fabricated or exaggerated. On 14 May 2018, he went on an open-ended hunger strike protesting the incarceration of 65 Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia and demanding their release. (Photo courtesy of Antonymon under CC BY-SA 4.0)
I am currently in the process of working up Sunday Announcements, which will post by end-of-day. Meanwhile, I share this encouraging news.
In response to the release by two United States Senators—Roger Wicker (R-MI) and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)—of their letter to the U.S. president calling on him to urge Vladimir Putin to release unjustly imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker and activist Oleg Sentsov, PEN America Washington Director Thomas O. Melia issued the following statement:
“We are heartened by this bipartisan expression of support for the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, 2017 recipient of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write award. As Sentsov’s hunger strike goes into its 37th day, his health continues to deteriorate in his remote prison north of the Arctic Circle, where he is facing a twenty-year sentence on fabricated charges due to his peaceful opposition to the Russian annexation of his native region of Crimea. We urge President Trump to do as the senators request and call on President Putin to release Sentsov from jail immediately.”
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. PEN champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Its mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” Elie Wiesel
Applications for the Pen America Writing for Justice Fellowship must be filed by July 1, 2018. This fellowship “aims to harness the power of writers and writing in bearing witness to the societal consequences of mass incarceration by capturing and sharing the stories of incarcerated individuals, their families, communities, and the wider impact of the criminal justice system. Our goal is to ignite a broad, sustained conversation about the dangers of over-incarceration and the imperative to mobilize behind rational and humane policies.” Details and link to application HERE.
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 