PEN Journeys

"This memoir covers a crucial time in the history of freedom of expression... filled with daring adventures, philosophical debates and meetings with some of the bravest writers and journalists who have risked so much to tell the truth."

-Jennifer Clement, President, PEN International 2015-2021

"I kept reading Joanne Leedom-Ackerman's PEN Journeys and said, These need to become a book. They tell the story of the important organization PEN from the ground and through the insightful eyes of someone who has worked and led the organization with passion, commitment and friendship with writers around the world. PEN Journeys addresses many important philosophical and political issues of the day with narrative flair so that I wanted to keep reading and then had to wait for the next installment."

-Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Republic of Imagination

"Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is the history of PEN incarnate. As president of a center, Chair of the Writers-in-Prison Committee, International Secretary, and a PEN International Vice President, she has been a steady and guiding force in the organization and its dedication to freedom of expression for more than one-third of PEN's first century. Her dedication to literature and human rights personify PEN International. These accounts do what all good writing does: She makes people and events vibrant."

-Eric Lax, Vice President of PEN International and author of Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey

"Joanne Leedom-Ackerman has always been on the line for PEN International and the cause of writer safety and freedom of expression. Her knowledge and sense of PEN is unparalleled."

-John Ralston Saul, President PEN International (2009-2015)

"This definitive chronicle of three crucial decades of PEN is a fascinating story told in lucid prose about the world's foremost organization defending freedom of expression.

Working tirelessly at all levels of PEN, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman has travelled the globe fighting for professionals of the word. Her unparalleled breadth of experience makes her the most qualified person to write this narrative, which is more important than ever as freedom of speech comes increasingly under attack."

-Homero Aridjis, President Emeritus of PEN International