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PEN USA honors Sam Hamill with the 2005 First Amendment Award
August 30, 2004
The First Amendment Action Committee of PEN USA
congratulates the 2005 First Amendment Award recipient,
Sam Hamill.
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The First Amendment Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional courage in defending freedom of expression in the United States.
Sam Hamill is a celebrated poet, essayist, and editor who has merged his commitment to the literary arts with an unwavering dedication to issues of justice and freedom of expression. He is the author of fourteen volumes of poetry, numerous essays, and two dozen volumes of translations from ancient Greek, Latin, Estonian, Japanese, and Chinese. His recent works include: Destination Zero: Poems 1970-1995, Gratitude, Dumb Luck, and The Essential Chuang Tzu, Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings of Basho, and Crossing the Yellow River: Three Hundred Poems from the Chinese. He is also the editor of many collections, including The Gift of Tongues: Twenty-five Years of Poetry from Copper Canyon Press, The Erotic Spirit, and Selected Poems of Thomas McGrath.
In addition to his prolific writing and editing, Sam Hamill has taught in prisons for fourteen years, in artist-in-residency programs for twenty years, and has worked extensively with battered woman and children. In January 2003, he founded Poets Against the War and then delivered to Congress 13,000 poems by 12,000 poets. That year, he also edited the best-selling Poets Against the War.
He has been recognized for his important contributions to the literary community as well the causes of justice and peace through fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission. He is also the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, two Washington Governor’s Arts Awards, and an anti-censorship award from PEN Oakland. He is founding editor of Copper Canyon Press.
We are honored to present to Sam Hamill the 2005 First Amendment Award in recognition of his extraordinary achievements in furtherance of freedom of expression in our country and internationally.
PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee is dedicated to defending the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States as it pertains to freedom of expression. We research challenges from across the political spectrum on free press and free speech issues of critical concern, issue alerts and suggest actions that can be taken in response to imminent threats to the First Amendment. We maintain a special page on the PEN USA website (penusa.org) which includes the alerts, updates, First Amendment and Free Speech links and guidelines for the First Amendment Award. In times of war as well as peace, PEN remains dedicated to safeguarding our fundamental right to free expression.
If you would like to join the First Amendment Action Committee, please contact our office at 213-365-8500 or email ftw@penusa.org.