Literature knows no frontiers. Yet books today are under profound attack. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school authorities and legislators. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on those very shelves that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. We have seen these stories slandered. Writers vilified. Voices silenced.

But we will not be silent. Together with PEN America, we defend books and writers, support diverse literature, and safeguard the freedom to imagine, tell stories, express opinions, share knowledge, and to access the opinions, ideas, and stories of others.