PEN America, an association defending freedom of expression for writers, shaken by the resignation of its president

On July 9, writer Dinaw Mengestu announced that he was leaving the presidency of PEN America after only seven months in office. In question, an article published that same day on the association’s website on the discrimination suffered by Israeli and American Jewish authors. The international organization, born in 1921 from the conviction that literature could be a tool for dialogue between people, defends the freedom of expression of writers and journalists throughout the world. Its American branch, very influential in the United States, has however been plagued for several years by internal dissensions over what this mission covers in the context of the war in Gaza. The resignation of Dinaw Mengestu, who as chairman of the board of directors has no editorial authority, provides a new example.

“In this article, write the authors of the investigation behind the departure of Dinaw Mengestu, we share the testimonies of Jewish and Israeli writers who feel that the traditional literary world increasingly excludes them because of their identity, their nationality or their opinions. » That of a renowned literary agent, for example, accustomed to selling around ten books by Israeli authors per year on the American market, who says she has not published any since October 7. Or that of the Israeli writer Etgar Keret, opposed to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who describes himself as having “the unique status of boycotted both in Israel and abroad”.

You have 78.01% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.