PEN Center USA
Encyclopedia
PEN Center USA, founded in 1943, is one of two PEN
centers in the United States and 145 centers in the world. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization
in 1981. PEN Center USA’s membership of more than 800 writers includes poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists (for the original letters in the "PEN" acronym), as well as television and screenwriters, critics, historians, editors, journalists, translators, and booksellers. Its activities include public literary events, fellowship and mentoring programs, literary awards, and international human rights campaigns on behalf of writers who are censored or imprisoned.
PEN Center USA is an affiliate of International PEN
, which was founded in London in 1921. It is located in Los Angeles
and primarily serves writers living west of the Mississippi river
.
Along with other centers around the world, PEN Center USA advocates for the release of imprisoned writers and for the protection of writers who suffer political prosecution, persecution, and censorship. The organization also produces a variety of programming for the writing community, which includes emerging and existing writers, translators, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians, and students in the public school system.
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
, which guarantees that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression… and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” PEN holds Category A status at UNESCO
and consultative status with the United Nations
.
As a member of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee, PEN Center USA members visit their colleagues in prison in other parts of the world and deliver aid in the form of letters and financial assistance. PEN Center USA’s Freedom to Write Committee, made up of more than 200 volunteer writers, investigates regional and country-specific problems. Past efforts include the Nigeria Initiative, aimed at publicizing the link between oil politics and the silencing of dissent in Nigeria
, and a coordinated campaign to end violent attacks against journalists in Latin America
.
As a member of the Rapid Action Network of International PEN, the PEN USA Freedom to Write Committee receives and responds to reports of arrests, attacks, and threats to more than 900 writers currently at risk around the world. Alerts are issued from International PEN via email to committee members, who then write letters of appeal to appropriate officials.
, Mary Yukari Waters, Marisa Silver
, Mary Otis, and Sherman Alexie
.
, and Gabrielle Calvocoressi.
, creative nonfiction
, research nonfiction, poetry
, children’s literature, translation
, journalism
, drama
, teleplay
, screenplay
, and graphic literature. Past award winners include Barbara Kingsolver
, Maxine Hong Kingston
, T.C. Boyle and Paul Thomas Anderson
.
will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; Dave Eggers
will receive the Award of Honor; and Charles Bowden
will receive the prestigious First Amendment Award. The Literary Awards, which include a one thousand dollar cash prize and honor the best writing in the western states, will be presented at the 21st Annual Literary Awards Festival at the Beverly Hills Hotel
on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
Robert Pinsky
, Lifetime Achievement Honoree, published Selected Poems in 2011. His recent anthology, with accompanying audio CD, is Essential Pleasures. His honors include the Harold Washington Award from the city of Chicago and the Los Angeles Times
Book Prize for his translation, The Inferno of Dante. Videos from the Favorite Poem Project, an organization that he founded during his tenure as U.S. Poet Laureate, can be viewed at www.favoritepoem.org.
Dave Eggers
, Award of Honor Honoree, is the author of seven books, including Zeitoun, which has been awarded the American Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Distinguished Honor, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Media Award. His novel What Is the What was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award
and winner of France's Prix Medici. His first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
. Eggers is the founder and editor of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing house, and the co-founder of 826 Valencia
, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in San Francisco. Seven cities across the country have since opened 826
centers. In 2004, Eggers and Dr. Lola Vollen co-founded Voice of Witness
, a series of books using oral history to illuminate human rights crises. He was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2005, and received the 2007 Heinz Award and the 2008 TED Prize. A native of Chicago, Eggers graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.
Charles Bowden
, First Amendment Award Honoree, is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction, the Sidney Hillman Prize, and a United States Artists Fellowship. He is the critically acclaimed author of many books, including Murder City, Down by the River, and A Shadow in the City, and co-editor of El Sicario. He is a contributing editor of GQ and Mother Jones
magazine, and writes for other magazines, including Harper's and Aperture
. Bowden lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
members), students (Student members), and booksellers (Bookseller members). The annual dues of membership, which vary by type, provide significant financial support that allows members to carry out the work of PEN Center USA.
's unfinished novel, The Pale King
, in Beverly Hills on April 28, 2011.
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
centers in the United States and 145 centers in the world. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
in 1981. PEN Center USA’s membership of more than 800 writers includes poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists (for the original letters in the "PEN" acronym), as well as television and screenwriters, critics, historians, editors, journalists, translators, and booksellers. Its activities include public literary events, fellowship and mentoring programs, literary awards, and international human rights campaigns on behalf of writers who are censored or imprisoned.
PEN Center USA is an affiliate of International PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
, which was founded in London in 1921. It is located in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and primarily serves writers living west of the Mississippi river
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
.
History
The organisation was originally established in 1943. In 1952 PEN International granted it the right to become PEN Los Angeles Center, able to set up its own chapters. In 1981 it was incorporated as a nonprofit association. In 1988 it requested a name change, and eventually it was renamed to PEN USA Center West.Mission Statement
PEN Center USA’s mission is to stimulate and maintain interest in the written word, to foster a vital literary culture, and to defend freedom of expression domestically and internationally.Along with other centers around the world, PEN Center USA advocates for the release of imprisoned writers and for the protection of writers who suffer political prosecution, persecution, and censorship. The organization also produces a variety of programming for the writing community, which includes emerging and existing writers, translators, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians, and students in the public school system.
Freedom to Write
Freedom to Write is PEN's worldwide, collaborative effort to support free speech and to defend writers whose civil and human rights have been violated. In 1948, International PEN members helped to craft Article 19ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 is a London-based human rights organisation with a specific mandate and focus on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide...
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
, which guarantees that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression… and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” PEN holds Category A status at UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and consultative status with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
As a member of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee, PEN Center USA members visit their colleagues in prison in other parts of the world and deliver aid in the form of letters and financial assistance. PEN Center USA’s Freedom to Write Committee, made up of more than 200 volunteer writers, investigates regional and country-specific problems. Past efforts include the Nigeria Initiative, aimed at publicizing the link between oil politics and the silencing of dissent in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, and a coordinated campaign to end violent attacks against journalists in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
As a member of the Rapid Action Network of International PEN, the PEN USA Freedom to Write Committee receives and responds to reports of arrests, attacks, and threats to more than 900 writers currently at risk around the world. Alerts are issued from International PEN via email to committee members, who then write letters of appeal to appropriate officials.
PEN in the Classroom
Started in 1995, PEN in the Classroom is a creative writing residency program for high school students in Southern California. PEN Center USA facilitates the residency, selecting a professional writer from its membership to design a curriculum and to instruct in-class writing workshops. The program publishes a student anthology and offers a PEN in the Classroom literary contest. The residency culminates in a public reading.Emerging Voices
Emerging Voices is PEN Center USA's literary fellowship program. Applicants are accepted into the program for fiction, poetry, or non-fiction. Throughout the year-long cycle, each Emerging Voices fellow participates in a professional mentorship; hosted Q & A evenings with local authors; a series of Master classes focused on genre; and two public readings. The fellowship includes a $1,000 stipend. The program is directed towards new writers who lack access and writers from immigrant, minority, and other underserved communities. In 2008, PEN Center USA published an anthology called Strange Cargo with work by the Emerging Voices fellows from that year. Past Emerging Voices mentors have included Jerry StahlJerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl is an American novelist and screenwriter, He is best known for his memoir of addiction Permanent Midnight. A film adaptation followed with Ben Stiller in the lead role....
, Mary Yukari Waters, Marisa Silver
Marisa Silver
Marisa Silver is an American author, screenwriter and film director.Silver was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, to Raphael Silver, a film director and producer, and Joan Micklin Silver, a director....
, Mary Otis, and Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...
.
The Mark
Emerging Voices alumni are invited to apply to a second fellowship program called The Mark. This program is designed to help writers prepare their manuscripts for publication. It consists of a project defense, an ongoing workshop, a mid-term review, and a final review. Mark program instructors include Mary Otis, Diana Wagman, Anna JourneyAnna Journey
Anna Journey is an American poet who was recently awarded a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry.-Life:She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, with an MFA in creative writing....
, and Gabrielle Calvocoressi.
Literary Awards
Established in 1982, PEN Center USA holds an annual competition that recognizes literary excellence in eleven categories: fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
, creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service...
, research nonfiction, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, children’s literature, translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
, screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, and graphic literature. Past award winners include Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
, Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United...
, T.C. Boyle and Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has written and directed five feature films: Hard Eight , Boogie Nights , Magnolia , Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood...
.
2011 Literary Awards Festival
PEN Center USA has announced the winners of the 2011 Literary Awards competition in eleven categories. A panel of writers, editors, critics, and journalists chose the recipients of the Literary Awards. PEN Center USA also announced the Festival Honorees: Robert PinskyRobert Pinsky
Robert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry...
will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is known for the best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and for his more recent work as a screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of the literacy project 826 Valencia.-Life:Eggers was born in Boston, Massachusetts,...
will receive the Award of Honor; and Charles Bowden
Charles Bowden
Charles Bowden is an American non-fiction author, journalist, and essayist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He is a former writer for the Tucson Citizen and often writes about the American Southwest...
will receive the prestigious First Amendment Award. The Literary Awards, which include a one thousand dollar cash prize and honor the best writing in the western states, will be presented at the 21st Annual Literary Awards Festival at the Beverly Hills Hotel
Beverly Hills Hotel
The Beverly Hills Hotel is a hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. It was opened on May 12, 1912 by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, who had been managing the Hollywood Hotel. The original main building of The Beverly Hills Hotel was designed by Pasadena...
on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
Robert Pinsky
Robert Pinsky
Robert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry...
, Lifetime Achievement Honoree, published Selected Poems in 2011. His recent anthology, with accompanying audio CD, is Essential Pleasures. His honors include the Harold Washington Award from the city of Chicago and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Prize for his translation, The Inferno of Dante. Videos from the Favorite Poem Project, an organization that he founded during his tenure as U.S. Poet Laureate, can be viewed at www.favoritepoem.org.
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is known for the best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and for his more recent work as a screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of the literacy project 826 Valencia.-Life:Eggers was born in Boston, Massachusetts,...
, Award of Honor Honoree, is the author of seven books, including Zeitoun, which has been awarded the American Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Distinguished Honor, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Media Award. His novel What Is the What was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
and winner of France's Prix Medici. His first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of younger brother Christopher "Toph" Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents....
, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
. Eggers is the founder and editor of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing house, and the co-founder of 826 Valencia
826 Valencia
826 Valencia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.-Overview:...
, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in San Francisco. Seven cities across the country have since opened 826
826
Year 826 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Religion :* June 24 – The Danish king Harald Klak accepts Christianity.- Deaths :...
centers. In 2004, Eggers and Dr. Lola Vollen co-founded Voice of Witness
Voice of Witness
Voice of Witness is a nonprofit book series that uses oral history to document human rights crises and social injustices in the United States and around the world...
, a series of books using oral history to illuminate human rights crises. He was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2005, and received the 2007 Heinz Award and the 2008 TED Prize. A native of Chicago, Eggers graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.
Charles Bowden
Charles Bowden
Charles Bowden is an American non-fiction author, journalist, and essayist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He is a former writer for the Tucson Citizen and often writes about the American Southwest...
, First Amendment Award Honoree, is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction, the Sidney Hillman Prize, and a United States Artists Fellowship. He is the critically acclaimed author of many books, including Murder City, Down by the River, and A Shadow in the City, and co-editor of El Sicario. He is a contributing editor of GQ and Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
magazine, and writes for other magazines, including Harper's and Aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
. Bowden lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Membership
PEN Center USA's membership comprises over eight hundred published authors (Full members), as well as a number of burgeoning writers (Associatemembers), students (Student members), and booksellers (Bookseller members). The annual dues of membership, which vary by type, provide significant financial support that allows members to carry out the work of PEN Center USA.
Literary Events
PEN Center USA produces a variety of events every year, including smaller staged readings, regular reading series, and large-scale special events for literary occasions, such as book releases. PEN Center USA will hold a reading of David Foster WallaceDavid Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
's unfinished novel, The Pale King
The Pale King
The Pale King is an unfinished novel by David Foster Wallace, published posthumously on April 15, 2011. After Wallace's death in September 2008, a manuscript and associated computer files were found by his widow, Karen Green, and his agent, Bonnie Nadell. That material was compiled by his friend...
, in Beverly Hills on April 28, 2011.