PEN America gathered for its annual gala Thursday night, with guests including Paul Simon and Seth Meyers. The high-profile, all-dressed event received even more praise as some wondered if it was even happening at all.
The literary and human rights organization has faced continued criticism over its handling of the Israeli-Hamas war, with hundreds of writers saying PEN has given limited attention to the suffering of Gazans and the deaths of Palestinian writers and journalists. He claims to have shown a lot of interest. Penn has already canceled its spring awards ceremony after dozens of nominees withdrew and canceled the World Voices Festival after hundreds of people signed an open letter saying they would not participate.
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But the gala is a major annual fundraiser for the organization, with Thursday’s event already raising more than $2 million and key supporters from previous years donating again. All five major New York publishers (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan) are listed as sponsors, with books ranging from Bloomberg and Barnes & Noble to National Basketball Association. Groups ranging from the Society to the David Geffen Foundation are also on the list.
“The test of our partnership is not whether we have any cause in common, but whether we can find a common cause,” Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, said in a statement.
PEN America is gathering Thursday night for its annual gala, but the high-profile event has been elevated to another level as some wondered if it was even happening at all.
Thursday night’s honorees included Simon, Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and Vietnamese dissident Pham Doan Tran. Mr. Myers will officiate.
Authors scheduled to attend include former Penn staffers including Robert Caro, Candace Bushnell, Jay McInerney, Salman Rushdie and Jennifer Egan. They included former Penn chief Andrew Solomon, who joined in publishing “A Letter Urging Confidence.” Together, we have built so that PEN America can continue to evolve in ways that serve writers and elevate them as an important force in society. ”
According to PEN, about 650 people attended, about 100 fewer than in 2023. Some participants admitted to having ambivalent feelings about the event.
“I wouldn’t say it never occurred to me whether or not I should go,” said Penn vice chairman and novelist Dinau Mengest. “But I feel it’s important that we continue to move forward and be able to strive, learn and change.”
Protests against PEN continue, with writers clashing in public. Earlier this month, PEN board member author and journalist George Packer accused PEN critics of an “authoritarian mentality” and argued in The Atlantic that they pressure others not to support the organization. . Mengest claimed on Instagram that Packer’s essay “misrepresents and distorts legitimate and necessary criticism of PEN” and trivializes the war in Gaza.
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Last week, more than a dozen authors who withdrew from PEN events held a benefit reading at a church in downtown Manhattan, with proceeds going to We Are Not Numbers, a youth-led Palestinian nonprofit that advocates for human rights in Gaza. was donated to. When opening speaker Nancy Krikorian mentioned the cancellation of PEN, the audience screamed and clapped. Another speaker, author and translator Esther Allen, criticized PEN for continuing to raise money while canceling awards and World Voices.
“The priorities couldn’t be clearer,” she says.
