Award-winning writer Andrew Solomon has been named the president of the PEN American Center.
Here’s more from the press release: “This is an urgent time for issues of free expression, and a critical time for PEN. In the wake of Charlie Hebdo, revelations about surveillance in the United States, international assaults on open dialogue for gay people, and restrictions on press and Internet in many countries worldwide, our mission could not be more clear: free speech is under siege and its defenders cannot rest.”
Solomon will be succeeding journalist Peter Godwin who has taken on this role for the past three years. Follow these links to watch Solomon’s TED talks on hardship, love, and depression.