NEW YORK (AP) — Amber Ruffin looked out upon hundreds of writers, publishers and editors gathered for PEN America's annual gala and shared her experience of being on the receiving end of censorship.
“I'm officially a banned book,” the comic-writer joked, referring to her being dropped as a speaker at April's White House Correspondents Dinner. “They booked me and then they banned me.”
Thursday night's event at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City was a protest against the suppression of speech and a celebration of being permitted to say what you pleased.
Ruffin presided over a dinner-fundraiser that included a tribute to actor-publisher-bibliophile Sarah Jessica Parker, imprisoned Egyptian poet-songwriter-activist Galal El-Behairy, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth and Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.
One of the biggest ovations was for a non-speaker, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who during a White House meeting in February challenged President Donald Trump over her support for transgender athletes, When Trump suspended funds for a Maine child nutrition program, Mills sued in federal court and prevailed.
PEN America, the century-old free speech organization, brought in Ruffin to host soon after the WHCA withdrew its invitation, contending it wanted to focus on the achievements of journalism. Ruffin is a blunt and sometimes profane critic of Trump and duly went after him Thursday, calling him “gross," “incompetent,” “racist” and “sexually deviant.” She also praised PEN for the chance to speak out.
“Thank you to PEN America for asking me to host and more importantly, thank you, PEN America, for Googling me at least once before asking me to host,” she said. “I’m looking at you, White House Correspondents Association.”
Parker was presented the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, given in previous years to Patti Smith, Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others.
Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang. At the Sundance Film Festival in January, she premiered a documentary film for which she served as executive producer, “The Librarians,” about the fight against book bans.
“To censor a book is to limit imagination, curiosity, connection, empathy and inspiration,” Parker said during her acceptance speech. "Libraries aren't just buildings with shelves. They are a beacon. They are warm in the winter and cool in summer, and they are sanctuaries of possibility. They are a heartbeat of the neighborhood."
El-Behairy, who has been imprisoned off and on since 2018 on charges of terrorism and “spreading false news,” won the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. The prize was accepted by his sister, Naiera, and father, Abdelfattah, who noted his son "paid the price for his opposition with the best years of his life wasted in prison.”
Taye Diggs presented the Business Visionary award to Yaged and joked that he liked the Macmillan executive because he didn't publish his children's books just because Diggs was an extremely handsome and successful Black actor.
Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump’s threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, won the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. During a speech that was loudly cheered, he remembered a happy, outspoken and admittedly privileged childhood during which threats to democracy were rarely considered.
“We are going to have to draw on love and support if we are to resist the slide towards authoritarianism that has gathered momentum across the land," Roth said.
PEN is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led to so many writers withdrawing from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year and a permanent replacement has not yet been announced.
The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of “originality, merit, and impact.” The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
