Culture stars in New York call for release of three Iranian writers

Jodie Foster, Awkwafina, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Wole Soyinka: writers, actors, musicians from all-New York demanded Tuesday evening the release of three imprisoned Iranian writers, on the occasion of the gala of the organization for the defense of literature and human rights, Pen America.

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This Pen America gala evening, the first after 18 months of pandemic in New York, was largely devoted to "

, ”according to the organization based in New York, the economic and cultural center of the United States. In the magnificent setting of the American Museum of Natural History, on the edge of Central Park, under the replicas of a blue whale and dinosaur skeletons, five hundred people flocked for this stilted evening, typical of high society New- York and consisting in raising funds for a cause.

By presenting them with an award for “freedom of expression”, the general director of Pen America Suzanne Nossel praised “

”. The three Iranians, imprisoned for a year in Evin prison, replied in a letter read by playwright Lynn Nottage that "the

."

"

" were sentenced in May 2019 to six years in prison after "

", a Pen America recalled in a press release.

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A letter-petition addressed to the ultra-conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi and asking for the release of the three men has been signed by nearly 370 artists and intellectuals, including the Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature , the South African JM Coetzee and the Turkish Orhan Pamuk, as well as the American actors Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. The annual Pen America gala is part of a series of revivals of the great philanthropic, cultural and “celebrity” evenings that have built New York's historic reputation, until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 The Pen America party was sponsored this year by American comedian and director Jodie Foster, Chinese-born New York rapper and actress Awkwafina,1986 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Nigerian Wole Soyinka, New York actor and composer of Puerto Rican descent Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Two female caregivers from California, Mimi Khin Hall and Gail Newel, who struggle with the coronavirus on a daily basis but who have said they are the target of threats and pressure caused by disinformation about the pandemic, have also been honored by Pen America.

Just like the president of Walt Disney Robert Iger who worried about a "

" with the development of the technologies of communication.