Aminatta Forna is One of Nearly 100 Authors Gathering at the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers

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On May 10, 2022, PEN America published a press release convening the Emergency Congress of Writers in Response to the War in Ukraine and Other Global Crises, which announced the gathering of nearly 100 authors, including Aminatta Forna, at the United Nations to Weigh Free Expression and the Role of Writers Amid Upheaval, on May 13.

The Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers is a modern iteration of a historic PEN America-led conference, held at the 1939 World’s Fair and convened by legendary journalist and PEN America President Dorothy Thompson. At that meeting, international PEN president Jules Romains stated that writers are “an army without banners,” and suggested it was time for “the pen to fight the sword”— demanding writers take a stance against the atrocities unfolding in Europe.

The event was organized around two consequential questions: Amid all of the cascading crises we face right now, including the epidemic of distraction and diffusion of effort, what are the threats that most warrant our concentrated focus? What is the role of the writer in responding to the current crises, how well are we doing collectively to rise to the occasion and what more should writers do?

The event was live drawn by Liza Donnelly, writer, author, speaker, New Yorker cartoonist, and member of PEN America, who gave us permission to share her work:

  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Ayad Akhtar saying: "The gravity of this moment is not new"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Suzanne Nossel saying "As governments falter, we face the question as to how writers might step in"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Aleksander Hemon
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Aminatta Forna saying "The fire this time is anochracy"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Philip Gourevitch saying "I'm not optimistic we will meet the climate change"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Elif Batuman saying "who are the Trump supporters? They are beaten children"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Jean Guerrero
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Molly Crabapple saying "The US must hold Israel accountable"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Andrey Kurkov saying: "The war is a huge contributor to climate problems"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Tanya Talaga saying "How do we make democracy better? This continent was formed on violence. We should be talking about raising our children in human rights. How do we grow better children?"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Dave Zirin saying "Are we allowed to talk about hope?"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Valeria Luiselli
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Anna Badkhen
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Ousman Umar saying "I am convinced education is the answer"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Okezie Nwoka saying: "Who we pray to is important to this conversation"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Fatima Shaik saying: "We need to not led children fear ideas"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Jennifer Szalai saying: "Every crisis is a long time coming"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Patrice Nganang
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Siri Hustvedt saying: "Language is collective, not private"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Salman Rushdie saying: "How can we think of the future when the present is screaming at us?"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Salman Rushdie saying: "Stories are at the heart of what's happening. We must tell better stories than the tyrants"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Chris Beha
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Rana Dasgupta saying: "We should find ways to hold these 193 countries to account"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Tara Westover
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Dinaw Mengestu
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Tochi Onyebuchi
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Yiyun Li
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Esmeralda Santiago saying: "We need to be specific when we say America"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Katie Holten saying: "We need to speak up for the non-humans"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Shehan Karunatilaka
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Ukranian writers Polina Sadovskaya, Iya Kiva, Halyna Kruk, and Tetyana Teren
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Leïla Slimani saying: "We need to encourage girls to write their stories"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly
  • Drawing of the PEN America Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers, with Tetyana Teren saying: "We invite you to feel our pain"
    Credit: Liza Donnelly

Watch the recording.

Read about the PEN America press release convening the Emergency Congress of Writers in Response to the War in Ukraine and Other Global Crises.