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PEN Awards Facing Disaster After Many Withdraw in Solidarity With Palestine
Nine of ten Jean Stein Book Award nominees have rejected the $75,000 prize.
They argue that PEN has failed to protect Palestinian writers in Gaza despite the organization’s mission to safeguard freedom of expression globally. Of those nominated for the annual $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award, nine of ten withdrew, leaving the most prestigious category with only one author in competition. On March 14, authors withdrew from the PEN World Voices Festival, saying the nonprofit “betrayed the organization’s professed commitment to peace and equality.” In February, 1,300 authors signed an open letter urging PEN to “respond to the extraordinary threat that Israel’s genocide of Palestinians represents for the lives of writers in Palestine and to freedom of expression everywhere.”
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