Faced with war protests in Gaza, PEN America cancels its awards ceremony

NY. PEN America announced yesterday the cancellation of its annual literary awards ceremony that was scheduled for April 29 at New York City Hall. The decision came after months of growing protests over the literary organization’s position on Israel’s war on Gaza and the recent withdrawal of more than a third of this year’s nominees.

Among those who have asked that their names be withdrawn are Jean Stein Prize candidate Camonghne Felix; the poetry finalist, Eugenia Leigh, and the short story nominee, Ghassan Zeineddine. It was reported that of the 61 authors and translators nominated for this cycle’s award, 28 chose to withdraw their books.

The organization announced that the winners who continue to be considered for their respective prize will receive their bags in cash. No winner will be announced if the selected title was no longer considered for the prize.

Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, director of Literary Programming at PEN América, said that It was a very difficult decision not to move forward with a public celebration to recognize this year’s honorees..

He added: We greatly respect that the writers followed their consciences, whether they decided to remain nominated in their respective categories or not. We regret that this unprecedented situation has taken away the importance of the extraordinary works selected by esteemed, insightful and hard-working judges in all categories..

The American literary website Literary Hub conveyed the position of a group of current and former staff and directors of PEN America: “We stand with those writers. We regret not signing our names to this statement and realize how ironic this is for employees of a free expression organization. We fear retaliation and for some of us that would have very serious consequences.

We want to make it clear that we hope things will change and that PEN America and these wonderful, talented writers can meet again in the future, so that we can once again celebrate them and their work, and work together to condemn the suppression of freedom of expression and the murder of writers, including an extraordinary number of journalists, in Gaza as elsewhere, with such force, indignation and impact.

PEN America noted that Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Wendy Vanden Heuvel and Bill Clegg, on behalf of the Jean Stein Literary Estate and Foundation, made the following statement: “Jean Stein was a passionate advocate for Palestinian rights who published, supported and honored writers and visual artists (…) To honor his decision, Jean Stein’s estate ordered that the literary organization donate the $75,000 award to the Palestinian Children’s Aid Fund.”

The Ap news agency reported a few days ago that Camonghne Felix, author of the autobiography dyscalculia, held in X: I decided to reject this recognition and asked to be removed from the long list in solidarity with the ongoing protest against PEN’s continued normalization and denial of genocide..

In addition to Felix, other authors rejected their nomination for recognition due to their discontent with the literary organization’s position.

Among the 28 authors who asked that their names be withdrawn are the poetry finalist Eugenia Leigh, Esther Allen, who opted for the Ralph Manheim translation, and the short story nominee Ghassan Zeineddine.

The awards were scheduled to be presented on April 29 in Manhattan, at a ceremony hosted by writer and comedian Jena Friedman.

PEN’s response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, following the October 7 attack by Hamas, has been widely criticized by writers who believe that the organization has not fully condemned the war, which has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, including They are hundreds of writers, academics and journalists.

An open letter published in March and signed by Naomi Klein, Lorrie Moore and dozens of others maintains that PEN has not no substantial coordinated support undertaken to the Palestinians and is not fulfilling its mission of dispel all hatred and defend the ideal of a humanity that lives in peace and equality in one world. The signatories of the letter contrasted the PEN’s strong protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and alleged that the PEN had done little to mobilize to members against the siege of Gaza.

Palestine’s poets, academics, novelists, journalists and essayists have risked everything, including their lives and those of their families, to share their words with the world.is indicated in the letter. However, PEN America appears unwilling to support them against the powers that have oppressed them for 75 years..

A PEN spokesperson said the organization has issued numerous statements calling for a ceasefire and lamenting the destruction of museums, libraries and mosques in Gaza, and has helped establish a $100,000 emergency fund for Palestinian writers.

We share the pain and anguish

As awardees began to reject their nominations, PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel said in a statement that PEN shared with many the “pain and anguish over the horrible costs of the war between Israel and Hamas, including for authors, poets, artists and journalists.

“We approach each conflict – Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Gaza – on its terms, aware of the complexities, of what we can contribute, of our members, of our partners and principles,” he added.

The criticism and eventual cancellation come ahead of a series of PEN galas, including a fundraising one on May 16 at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.

Klein and the other signatories of the letter have said they will boycott PEN’s international World Voices festival next month in Los Angeles and New York. PEN continues to attract high-profile guests, including war opponents.

Last Friday, the organization announced that playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner was this year’s winner of the Mike Nichols Award for Writing for Performance.

Marcia Gay Harden, who starred in the 1993 to 1994 Broadway production of Angels in America, Kushner, who won the Pulitzer Prize, and Rachel Zegler, who won the Golden Globe for her performance as Maria in Kushner and Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story (Love without barriers), of 2021, would present the Nichols Award during the April 29 ceremony.

Kushner, who is Jewish, has for years criticized Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians; He recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on the invasion of Gaza: It seems like ethnic cleansing to me.. He added that the story of Jewish suffering should not be used as an excuse for a project to kill other people.

Tensions over the Gaza war have spread to the entire artistic community. Kushner was one of the defenders of last month’s Oscar acceptance speech by the director of Area of ​​interest, Jonathan Glazer, who warned against dehumanization.

Kushner would not be the only war critic at the awards ceremony. PEN/Jean Stein finalist Aaliyah Bilal, who as a National Book Award nominee last fall read a letter in which she called for an end to the war, announced that she would attend the PEN event.

With information from Ap