PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
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Awards presented by the PEN American Center (today
PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of lite ...
) that are no longer active. The awards are among many PEN awards sponsored by
International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes.


PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (1987–2015)

The PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award was an award that honored writers anywhere in the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
. Established in 1987, the award was administered by
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
and underwritten by PEN trustee
Barbara Goldsmith Barbara Goldsmith (May 18, 1931 – June 26, 2016) was an American author, journalist, and philanthropist. She received critical and popular acclaim for her best-selling books, essays, articles, and her philanthropic work. She was awarded four ...
. The last award was in 2015; its successor is PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, established in 2016 and honoring writers who were imprisoned for their work.


Winners

*2018
Wa Lone Wa Lone ( my, ဝလုံး; born 1986) is a Reuters journalist and children's author who, with fellow reporter Kyaw Soe Oo, was arrested on 12 December 2017 in Myanmar because of their investigation into the Inn Din massacre. A police witne ...
and Kyaw Soe Oo, Myanmar *2015
Khadija Ismayilova Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, also Ismailova, ( az, Xədicə Rövşən qızı İsmayılova, pronounced ; born 27 May 1976) is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Rad ...
, Azerbaijan *2014 Ilham Tohti, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China *2013 Ayşe Berktay, Turkey *2012
Eskinder Nega Eskinder Nega ( Ge'ez: እስክንድር ነጋ, born 7 November 1969) is an Ethiopian journalist, blogger and politician who has been jailed at least ten times by the Ethiopian government on convictions for treason and terrorism. Early life ...
, Ethiopia *2011
Nasrin Sotoudeh Nasrin Sotoudeh ( fa, نسرین ستوده) is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sent ...
, Iran *2010
Nay Phone Latt Nay Phone Latt ( my, နေဘုန်းလတ်; born Nay Myo Kyaw on 28 June 1980) is a Burmese blogger and activist, currently serving as a Yangon Region Hluttaw MP for Thingangyun Township. He was a recipient of PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Fre ...
, Burma *2009
Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one- ...
, China *2008 Yang Tongyan, China *2007 Normando Hernández González, Cuba *2006 Mohammad Benchicou, Algeria *2006 Rakhim Esenov, Turkmenistan *2005
Deyda Hydara Deyda Hydara (June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004) was a co-founder and primary editor of '' The Point'', a major independent Gambian newspaper. He was also a correspondent for both AFP News Agency and Reporters Without Borders for more than 30 ...
, Gambia *2005
Ali Al-Domaini ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
, Saudi Arabia *2004
Nasser Zarafshan Nasser Zarafshan (born 1946) is an Iranian writer, translator, and attorney. He is known for having been arrested while acting as the legal envoy of two of the families of dissident Iranian writers who were assassinated in November 1998 in what ...
, Iran *2004
Lê Chi Quang Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most ...
, Vietnam *2003
Zouhair Yahyaoui Zouhair Yahyaoui (; December 8, 1967 – March 13, 2005) was the first cyber-dissident to be pursued and condemned in Tunisia, a country that is often rated at the top of lists of Internet policing by independent third-party sources such as the O ...
, Tunisia *2003
Bernardo Arévalo Padrón Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Fra ...
, Cuba *2002
Aung Myint Aung Myint ( my, အောင်မြင့်, ; born 27 October 1946) is a Burmese painter and performance artist. He is considered a pioneer in experimental art, rejecting traditional romanticism and confronting social and critical issues thr ...
, Myanmar (Burma) *2002
Tohti Tunyaz Tohti Tunyaz (pen name: Tohti Muzart; , Pinyin: Tǔhètí Tǔyāzī; born October 1, 1959) was an ethnic Uyghur historian and writer who graduated from the history department of the Central Institute of Nationalities, Beijing, in 1984 and was assi ...
, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China *2001
Shahla Lahiji Shahla Lahiji (born 1942) ( fa, شهلا لاهیجی) is an Iranian writer, publisher, translator, women's rights activist, and the director of Roshangaran, a publishing house on women's issues. Career and activities Lahiji completed a degree in ...
, Iran *2001 Mamadali Mahmudov, Uzbekistan *2000 Flora Brovina, Kosovo *2000 Xue Deyun, China *1999 Faraj Ahmad Birqdar, Syria *1999 Esber Yagmurdereli, Turkey *1998 Ogaga Ifowodo, Nigeria *1998 Liu Jingsheng, China *1997 Godwin Agbroko, Nigeria *1997 Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkey *1996 Ma Thida, Myanmar (Burma) *1996 Anonymous, Africa *1995 San San Nweh, Myanmar (Burma) *1995
Yndamiro Restano Díaz Yndamiro Restano Díaz (born c. 1948) is a Cuban dissident journalist and poet who has won the 1996 Golden Pen of Freedom Award of the World Association of Newspapers and a 1994 International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect J ...
, Cuba *1994 Edip Polat, Turkey *1994 Đoàn Viết Hoạt, Vietnam *1993 Zoran Mutic, Bosnia *1993 Svetlana Slapšak, Serbia *1993 Nizar Nayouf, Syria *1992 Thiagarajah Selvanithy ("Selvi"), Sri Lanka *1992 Jean Mario Paul, Haiti *1991
Abraham Serfaty Abraham Serfaty ( ar, أبراهام سرفاتي‎; January 16, 1926 – 18 November 2010) was an internationally prominent Moroccan Marxist-Leninist dissident, militant, and political activist, who was imprisoned for years by King Hassan II ...
, Morocco *1991 Francisco Valencia, El Salvador *1990
Jack Mapanje Jack Mapanje (born 25 March 1944)Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: ''Zhào Zhènkāi''). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candida ...
, China *1989 Nguyễn Chí Thiện, Vietnam *1989 Martha Kumsa, Ethiopia *1988 Maina wa Kinyatti, Kenya *1988
Pramoedya Ananta Toer Pramoedya Ananta Toer (EYD: Pramudya Ananta Tur) (6 February 1925 – 30 April 2006) was an Indonesian author of novels, short stories, essays, polemics and histories of his homeland and its people. His works span the colonial period under Dutch ...
, Indonesia *1987 Matsemela Manaka, South Africa *1987 Nizametdin Akhmetov, Soviet Union


PEN/Steven Kroll Award (2012–2014)

The PEN/Steven Kroll Award was awarded by the
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
"to acknowledge the distinct literary contributions of picture book writers." Established in memory of Steven Kroll, a former PEN Trustee and Chair of PEN's Children's/Young Adult Book Authors Committee, this honor was awarded for the first time in 2012 for a book published in 2011. The last award was given in 2014.


Winners

*2012 Patricia C. McKissack, '' Never Forgotten'' *2013 Michelle Markel, ''The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau'' *2014
Bil Lepp Bil Lepp is an American storyteller and a five-time winner of the West Virginia State Liars' Contest. He performs at storytelling festivals around the nation and is a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenness ...
, ''The King of Little Things''


PEN/W.G. Sebald Award (2010–2011)

The PEN/W.G. Sebald Award for a Fiction Writer in Mid-Career was awarded by the
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
to honor a promising writer who has published three works of fiction.


Winners

*2010
Susan Choi Susan Choi (born 1969) is an American novelist. Early life and education Choi was born in South Bend, Indiana to a Korean father and a Jewish mother. She attended public schools. When she was nine years old, her parents divorced. She and her m ...
*2011
Aleksander Hemon Aleksandar Hemon ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Xeмoн; born September 9, 1964) is a Bosnian-American author, essayist, critic, television writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels '' Nowhere Man'' (2002) and '' The Lazarus Pr ...


PEN Emerging Writers Awards (2011)

The PEN Emerging Writers Awards was awarded by the
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
. It was awarded to up-and-coming authors whose writing had been featured in distinguished literary journals, but had not published book-length works. Three prizes were awarded: one fiction, one nonfiction, and one poetry. Candidates were only nominated by editors from print and online journals. Participating journals for 2011 included: ''6 x 6'', ''A Public Space'', ''Bloom'', ''Colorado Review'', ''Creative Nonfiction'', ''Fence'', ''Gargoyle'', ''Glimmer Train'', ''Guernica'', ''Harvard Review'', ''jubilat'', ''Kenyon Review'', ''Lungfull!'', ''New York Quarterly'', ''One Story'', ''The Oxford American'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Rain Taxi'', ''Spinning Jenny'', and ''Tin House''.


Winners

*2011 **Poetry: Adam Day **Fiction:
Smith Henderson Smith Henderson is an American fiction writer, and is the author of the novels ''Fourth of July Creek'' and (with Jon Marc Smith) ''Make Them Cry'', as well as short stories published in ''Best American Short Stories'', ''Tin House'', '' America ...
**Nonfiction: David Stuart McLean


PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award (2000)

The PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award was given to unpublished writers who submit original short story manuscripts. Each manuscript competed for a $10,000 cash grant and publication at Amazon.com and in ''The Boston Book Review''. Award was active for one year.


Architectural Digest Award for Literary Writing on the Visual Arts (2000–2001)

The Architectural Digest Award for Literary Writing on the Visual Arts was presented for literary writing on the visual arts. It was active two years 2000–2001.


Gregory Kolovakos Award (1992–2004)

The Gregory Kolovakos Award was a
literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. M ...
given every three years by
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
to a U.S. literary translator, editor, or critic "whose work, in meeting the challenge of cultural difference, extends Gregory Kolovakos's commitment to the richness of Hispanic literature and to expanding its English-language audience". It was primarily intended to recognize translations into English from Spanish, but translations from other Hispanic languages were also eligible. Gregory Kolovakos was a graduate of Yale University and served as the director of the Literature Program of the New York State Council on the Arts for many years. He was also the founding executive director of the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
in 1985. The monetary amount of the Award was USD $2000. The prize was first given in 1992.


Winners

*2004
Cola Franzen Cola Franzen (February 4, 1923 – April 5, 2018) was an American writer and translator. Life She published more than twenty books of translations, by notable Spanish and Latin American authors. She was a member of ALTA (American Literary Translat ...
, Robert M. Laughlin, and Alexander Taylor *2001
Gregory Rabassa Gregory Rabassa, ComM (March 9, 1922 – June 13, 2016), was an American literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English. He taught for many years at Columbia University and Queens College. Life and career Rabassa was born in Yonkers, ...
and Alastar Reid *1998 Johannes Wilbert *1992
Eliot Weinberger Eliot Weinberger (born 6 February 1949 in New York City) is a contemporary American writer, essayist, editor, and translator. He is primarily known for his literary writings (essays) and political articles, the former characterized by their wide-ra ...


Jerard Fund Award (2001–2005)

The Jerard Fund Award honored a work in progress of general nonfiction distinguished by high literary quality by a woman at the midpoint in her career. Presented every 2 years, it was active from 2001 to 2005.


Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir (1998–2006)

The Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir was presented for a first published memoir. It was active from 1998 to 2006.


Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction (1989–2006)

The Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction was presented for an American author's first-published book of general nonfiction. It was active from 1989 to 2006.


PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award (1993–2006)

The PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award was an award presented annually from 1993 to 2006 to a U.S. resident who "fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word." Sponsored by
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
and Newman's Own, a cash prize of $20,000 was awarded. It was active from 1993 to 2006.


Winners

*2006 –
Sibel Edmonds Sibel Deniz Edmonds is a former contract translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news website NewsBud. The FBI hired her as a translator shortly after 9/11 but fired her a ...
– a translator who was fired from her job at the FBI after complaining of intelligence failures and poor performance in her unit. *2005 – Joan Airoldi – a librarian and library director in rural
Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
who challenged an FBI effort to search patron records under the Library Awareness Program. *2004 – Barbara Parsons Lane, one of eight incarcerated writers who were sued by the State of Connecticut after contributing to Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters, a moving anthology of stories and essays by women who participated in a creative writing workshop led by
Wally Lamb Wally Lamb (born October 17, 1950) is an American author known as the writer of the novels '' She's Come Undone'' and ''I Know This Much Is True'', both of which were selected for Oprah's Book Club. He was the director of the Writing Center at N ...
at York Correctional Institute. *2003 – Jerilynn Adams Williams, a Texas librarian who successfully turned back an attempt to remove books from circulation at Montgomery County public libraries. *2002 –
Vanessa Leggett Vanessa Leggett (née Levrier; born May 18, 1968) is an American freelance journalist and lecturer who was jailed by the U.S. Justice Department for 168 days for protecting sources and research notes for an independent book about a federal murder ...
, freelance writer who was jailed in a federal detention center in Texas for 168 days for refusing to bow to a sweeping subpoena of confidential source materials. *2001 – Deloris Wilson, high school librarian in West Monroe, Louisiana who fought to preserve access to library materials banned for sexual content. **Alberto Sarrain, Cuban-émigré theater producer who challenged Miami-Dade County's ban on public funding to arts organizations performing work by artists currently living in Cuba. *2000 – Dr. William Holda, President,
Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...
, who defended the production of
Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...
's play
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award f ...
in Kilgore, Texas. *1999 – Releah Lent, Florida high school teacher and student newspaper advisor who has struggled to defend literature in the classroom and press freedom for students. *1998 – Terrilyn Simpson, Maine writer and journalist harassed for her attempts to cover local industrial health hazards. *1997 – Nancy Hsu Fleming, defeated a corporation's attempt to silence her written concerns about possible groundwater contamination caused by a local landfill. *1996 – Cissy Lacks, Missouri high school Creative Writing teacher fired for "failure to censor her students' creative expression." *1995 – Joyce Meskis, Denver bookstore owner who successfully challenged a Colorado law barring stores open to children from selling novels and art books with sexual content, and who continued to sell
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...
's
The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
in 1989, donating 25% of proceeds to anticensorship organizations. *1994 – Carole Marlowe, Arizona drama teacher who resisted district censorship of a play selected for student production. *1993 – Claudia Johnson, restored literary classics—including Steinbeck, Chaucer, Aristophanes—that had been banned from Florida classrooms; defended student production of
A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...
. Patricia Lightweis fought targeted obscenity charges brought against her for books and magazines carried at her store in South Carolina.


PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award (2008)

The PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award was presented for only one year. It was meant to given to a U.S. resident "who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word." Sponsored by
PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
and Katherine Anne Porter Foundation, the award included a cash prize of US$10,000. The award succeeded the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award which was last awarded in 2006. The award was given in 2008 only.


Winner

*2008 – Laura Berg – A psychiatric nurse at a
Veterans Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...
hospital who faced an investigation into possible charges of sedition when she wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper which was critical of George W. Bush.


Renato Poggioli Translation Award (1991–2000)

The Renato Poggioli Translation Award was for a translator at work on an English-language version of Italian literature. Active from 1991 to 2000.


Roger Klein Award for Career Achievement (1971–2000)

The Roger Klein Award for Career Achievement was presented to a trade book editor every two years for "distinguished editorial achievement." It was active from 1971 to 2000. , To a trade book editor every two years for "distinguished editorial achievement."


Roger Klein Award for Editing

The Roger Klein Award for Editing was an honor "given very two yearsto an outstanding editor in trade hardcover publishing." It was active from 1971 to 2000. , An honor "given very two yearsto an outstanding editor in trade hardcover publishing."


References

{{Reflist * Former awards