NEW YORK (AP) — Several authors have turned down awards and awards nominations from PEN America, citing unhappiness with the literary and free expression organization’s stance on the war in Gaza. This week, PEN announced its long lists in categories ranging from the $75,000 Jean Stein Award for best book to the $10,000 PEN/Hemingway award for first novel. Authors who have asked for their names to be withdrawn include Jean Stein nominee Camonghne Felix, poetry finalist Eugenia Leigh and short story nominee Ghassan Zeineddine. “I decided to decline this recognition and asked to be removed from the long list in solidarity with the ongoing protest of PEN’s continued normalization and denial of genocide,” Felix, author of the memoir “Dyscalculia,” wrote on X. The awards are scheduled to be handed out during an April 29 ceremony in Manhattan, hosted by writer-comedian Jena Friedman. A PEN spokesperson said that nine out of 60 nominated authors had asked for their names to be withdrawn. PEN also confirmed that Esther Allen had declined the PEN/Ralph Manheim Award for translation and added that it would soon announce a new winner. |
Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meetingGreece expects more Chinese visitors with extra direct air linksHow to upgrade your outdated acronyms to keep up with Gen ZChina's northernmost high2024 IFSC Climbing World Cup to open in China's ShaoxingSpring Festival lantern fair combines tradition, creative displays to attract visitorsAerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China's GuangzhouHow to upgrade your outdated acronyms to keep up with Gen ZYemen's Houthi rebels claim downing US Reaper droneXi calls on Chongqing to write its chapter in Chinese modernization