PEN America Axes 2024 Awards Ceremony Over Gaza Protests
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for PEN AmericaWriters group PEN America has canceled its 2024 literary awards ceremony following months of protests by pro-Palestine writers who criticized its stance on Gaza as milquetoast and too sympathetic to Israel.
Instead of holding the planned April 29 Manhattan event, PEN America released the names of its finalists and winners. Some authors had chosen to withdraw their names from consideration in the nominee pool, but PEN said they had selected winners before the exits were made.
In a release, the organization’s Literary Programming Chief Officer, Rosaz Shariyf, called it a “very difficult decision” not to move forward with the public celebration.