PEN America has canceled its prestigious 2024 awards ceremony after almost half the writers nominated for the award withdrew their works in protest against the organization’s position on the war in Gaza.
The group, which is dedicated to freedom of expression, announced this Monday the cancellation of the awards ceremony on April 29 in New York. Some 28 of the 61 authors and translators nominated for awards this year withdrew their books, citing PEN America’s alleged lack of support for Palestinian writers.
Nine out of ten authors nominated for the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award—the event’s most lucrative honor—withdrew their work from consideration.
“We greatly respect that the writers followed their consciences, whether they chose to remain nominees in their respective categories or not,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, director of literary programming at PEN America, in a statement. Press release on Monday.
“We regret that this unprecedented situation has taken the spotlight away from the extraordinary work selected by esteemed, insightful and hard-working judges across all categories,” said Rosaz Shariyf.
Since 1963, the annual awards ceremony has recognized outstanding literary voices across a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, children’s literature and drama.
This writers’ boycott comes amid growing discontent in the literary sphere over PEN America’s response to Israel’s ongoing bombing of Gaza, as the conflict approaches its 200th day. Since February, more 1,300 writers and poets called on PEN America to “find the same zeal and passion they have for books banned in the US to talk about real human beings in Palestine.”
One second open letter—published last week—saw 30 nominated writers and translators demand the resignations of PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, PEN America President Jennifer Finney Boylan, and the entire PEN America Executive Committee.
There are also question marks surrounding PEN America’s World Voices Festival, which will take place in New York City May 8-11 and Los Angeles May 8-18. Last month, prominent writers such as Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander and Zaina Arafat signed an open letter withdrawing from the festival.
Following the boycott, PEN America shared the names of its 2024 Finalists and Winners online. The organization said it is considering how to allocate funds for each award on a case-by-case basis.
Jean Stein’s estate instructed PEN America to donate the $75,000 prize to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, calling Stein a “passionate advocate for Palestinian rights” in PEN America’s press release.
“Proud, inspired,” wrote novelist Maya Binyam, one of the nominees who withdrew her work, in social media platform. “Thank you to all the authors who withdrew their work, to the PEN team who supported our action, to the writers who withdrew from the WVF and charted a path forward, to Jean Stein for saying what PEN America refuses to do: Gaza will be free.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
