PEN America cancels lit awards ceremony after writers withdraw their books to protest war in Gaza

On Monday, PEN America announced that the decision had been made to cancel its 2024 literary awards ceremony, which had been scheduled to take place on April 29 in New York City.

The move came in response to an open letter signed by countless award-winning writers condemning the organization for its stance on the war between Israel and Hamas.

"We greatly respect that writers have followed their consciences, whether they chose to remain as nominees in their respective categories or not," PEN America’s Literary Programming Chief Officer Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said in a statement. "We regret that this unprecedented situation has taken away the spotlight from the extraordinary work selected by esteemed, insightful and hard-working judges across all categories. As an organization dedicated to freedom of expression and writers, our commitment to recognizing and honoring outstanding authors and the literary community is steadfast."

In their letter, the signatories noted that since October 7, "thousands of writers have written and signed letters demanding that PEN America speak out and stand in solidarity with Palestinian writers.

"PEN America," they added, "waited days to speak on this incomparable loss of Palestinian life -- and when PEN did decide to speak, the statements that followed show a lack of proportional empathy, and were often laced with ahistorical, Zionist propaganda hidden under the guise of neutrality."

The group went on to suggest neutrality was "a betrayal," and that, "PEN's statements and actions demonstrate not only an immoral reliance on corporate dollars, but a lack of writerly courage."

"PEN America states that 'the core' of its mission is to 'support the right to disagree'," they added. "There is no disagreement. There is fact and fiction. Israel is leading a genocide of Palestinian people. PEN’s perpetuation of false equivalences, their equivocation and normalizing, is indeed a betrayal."

The signatories concluded by declaring that they "refuse to take part in anything that will serve to overshadow PEN’s complicity in normalizing genocide."

PEN America explained that while the ceremony is now canceled, those who were due to receive awards and didn't withdraw their names will still be given cash prizes.