Jennifer Finney Boylan has been elected the new president of PEN America.
The literary nonprofit, known for its support for free expression, made the announcement in a news release on Monday, calling Boylan a “celebrated breakthrough author and LGBTQ rights advocate.”
Boylan is the author of more than a dozen books, including a bestselling memoir, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders; the children’s books Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror and Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor; and the novel Long Black Veil. Her most recent book, Mad Honey, co-written with Jodi Picoult, was published last year by Ballantine.
“Nothing opens hearts and minds as quickly as powerful stores,” Boylan said in a statement. “And that’s why there are people even now trying to silence voices, by banning books, shouting down opposing viewpoints, legislating what can be taught and studied in classrooms and imposing strictures on who can tell which stories. All these efforts to silence and repress are evidence of the power for change in narrative. I’m most passionate about having everyone’s stories heard, told, and published because that is the way to evolve our culture and allow all people to realize their potential.”
Boylan succeeds Ayad Akhtar, author of American Dervish and Homeland Elegies, as president of the organization.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
