The PEN Freedom to Write Award is an annual honor presented by PEN America, an organization dedicated to promoting literature and defending free expression. This award recognizes writers who have faced persecution or imprisonment for their work, highlighting the importance of freedom of speech and the challenges many authors encounter worldwide. Recipients of the award are celebrated for their courage and commitment to expressing their ideas, often at great personal risk. The award aims to raise awareness about the plight of writers and to advocate for their rights, reinforcing the belief that literature should be free from censorship and oppression.