April 26, 2015

In March it was announced that the PEN Literary Gala, to be held May 5th
2015, would honor the magazine Charlie Hebdo with the PEN/Toni and James C.
Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award in response to the January 7
attacks that claimed the lives of many members of its editorial staff.
It is clear and inarguable that the murder of a dozen people in the Charlie
Hebdo offices is sickening and tragic. What is neither clear nor inarguable
is the decision to confer an award for courageous freedom of expression on
Charlie Hebdo, or what criteria, exactly were used to make that decision.
We do not believe in censoring expression. An expression of views, however
disagreeable, is certainly not to be answered by violence or murder.
However, there is a critical difference between staunchly supporting
expression that violates the acceptable, and enthusiastically rewarding
such expression.
In the aftermath of the attacks, Charlie Hebdos cartoons were
characterized as satire and equal opportunity offense, and the magazine
seems to be entirely sincere in its anarchic expressions of principled
disdain toward organized religion. But in an unequal society, equal
opportunity offence does not have an equal effect.
Power and prestige are elements that must be recognized in considering
almost any form of discourse, including satire. The inequities between the
person holding the pen and the subject fixed on paper by that pen cannot,
and must not, be ignored.
To the section of the French population that is already marginalized,
embattled, and victimized, a population that is shaped by the legacy of
Frances various colonial enterprises, and that contains a large percentage
of devout Muslims, Charlie Hebdos cartoons of the Prophet must be seen as
being intended to cause further humiliation and suffering.
Our concern is that, by bestowing the Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of
Expression Courage Award on Charlie Hebdo, PEN is not simply conveying support
for freedom of expression, but also valorizing selectively
offensive material: material that intensifies the anti-Islamic,
anti-Maghreb, anti-Arab sentiments already prevalent in the Western world.

In our view, PEN America could have chosen to confer its PEN/Toni and James C.
Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award upon any of a number of
journalists and whistleblowers who have risked, and sometimes lost, their
freedom (and even their lives) in service of the greater good.
PEN is an essential organization in the global battle for freedom of
expression. It is therefore particularly disheartening to see that PEN
America has chosen to honor the work and mission of Charlie Hebdo above
those who not only exemplify the principles of free expression, but whose
courage, even when provocative or discomfiting, has also been fastidiously
exercised for the good of humanity.
We the undersigned, as writers, thinkers, and members of PEN, therefore
respectfully wish to disassociate ourselves from PEN Americas decision to
give the 2015 Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award to
Charlie Hebdo.
Chris Abani
Hosam M. Aboul-Ela
Leslie Absher
Elizabeth Adams
Ali Jimale Ahmed
Lauren K. Alleyne
Sinan Antoon
Judith Appelbaum
Nicole Aragi
Michael Archer
Tony Ardizzone
Sarah Arvio
Gabeba Baderoon

Deborah Baker
Russell Banks
Susan Bell
Naomi Benaron
Helen Benedict
Christopher Benfey
Cara Benson
Charles Ramrez Berg
Susan Bernofsky
Eric Bogosian
Robert Bononno
Barrie Jean Borich
Blanche McCrary Boyd
Adam Braver
Donald Breckenridge
Rita Nakashima Brock
Ami Sands Brodoff
Karen Brown Brooks
Edward Burlingame
Janet Burroway
Viola Canales
Helene Cardona

Peter Carey
John Casey
Bryn Chancellor
Myriam J. A. Chancy
Hayan Charara
Bell Gale Chevigny
Rita Zoey Chin
Angie Chuang
Catherine Chung
Jane Ciabattari
Carmela Ciuraru
Patricia Clark
Tony Cohan
Teju Cole
Michael Cunningham
Emily M. Danforth
Tod Davies
Annabel Davis-Goff
Siddhartha Deb
Jason Diamond
Junot Daz
Stephen Dobyns

Geoff Dyer
Erin Edmison
Brent Hayes Edwards
Brian T. Edwards
Marshall Efron
Deborah Eisenberg
Susan Eisenberg
Hedi El Kholti
Trey Ellis
Eve Ensler
Elizabeth Enslin
Barbara Epler
Jennifer Cody Epstein
Ali Eteraz
Percival Everett
Joshua Ferris
Marlon L. Fick
Boris Fishman
Stona Fitch
Frances FitzGerald
Peter H. Fogtdal
Senan Forbes

Ashley Ford
Linda Nemec Foster
Lauren Francis-Sharma
Edwin Frank
Judith Frank
John Freeman
Ru Freeman
Nell Freudenberger
Molly Friedrich
Joshua Furst
Gretchen Gerzina
Keith Gessen
Francisco Goldman
John Guare
Conner Habib
Jessica Hagedorn
Brian Hall
Theodore Hamm
Lis Harris
Kathryn Harrison
Jonathan T. Hine Jr.
Edward Hoagland

Laura Hoffmann
Nancy Horan
Marya Hornbacher
Sandra Hunter
Megan Hustad
Randa Jarrar
T. Geronimo Johnson
Paul Kane
John Keahey
Uzma Aslam Khan
Dave King
Gilbert King
Robert Spencer Knotts
Ruth Ellen Kocher
Nancy Kricorian
Amitava Kumar
Rachel Kushner
Amy Lawless
Zachary Lazar
David Leavitt
Jonathan Lee
Katherine Leiner

Ben Lerner
Ted Lewin
Ed Lin
Michael Lindgren
Julie Livingston
Craig Lucas
Doug Magee
Ann Malaspina
Janet Malcolm
Charlotte Mandell
C. M. Mayo
Patrick McGrath
Clarissa McNair
Deena Metzger
Thais Miller
Kyle Minor
Rick Moody
Skye Moody
Lorrie Moore
Dolan Morgan
James McGrath Morris
Bradford Morrow

Judith Nies
Idra Novey
Stephen OConnor
Joyce Carol Oates
Alfa-Betty Olsen
Michael Ondaatje
Peter Orner
Duvall Osteen
Raj Patel
Chris Pavone
William Pierce
Francine Prose
Marcus Rediker
Adam Rex
Clay Risen
Roxana Robinson
David Roediger
Paul Rome
Mark Rotella
Jess Row
Gina Ruiz
Luc Sante

Steven Schroeder
Sarah Schulman
Taiye Selasi
Elissa Schappell
Danzy Senna
Vijay Seshadri
Kamila Shamsie
Jeff Sharlet
Wallace Shawn
Matthew Shenoda
Nancy Shiffrin
Russell Shorto
Elisabeth Sifton
Charles Simic
Tom Sleigh
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Alexis M. Smith
Jill Smolowe
Linda Spalding
Scott Spencer
Betsy Sussler
Emily Gray Tedrowe

Roy A. Teel Jr.

Michael Thomas
Ted Thompson
Kathleen Tolan
Joanne Turnbull
Chase Twichell
Padma Venkatraman
Jasmine Dreame Wagner
Eliot Weinberger
Jon Wiener
Elizabeth Winthrop
Sung J. Woo
G. K. Wuori
Matvei Yankelevich
Dave Zirin