PEN Literary Gala honours The Women's March

The historic Women’s March has been honoured as the winner of this year's PEN Literary Gala.

A day after President Donald Trump's inauguration the world witnessed The Women's March. The March, which took place in Washington, D.C., and in many cities around America and in several parts of the world on January 21, 2017, mobilized millions of women and men cutting across the bars of races, creeds, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities and disabilities to send a message to the new government and to the world that women's rights are human rights.

PEN America in a statement told The Associated Press on Wednesday that "The Women's March" has won the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award. Bob Bland, one of four national co-chairs who helped organise the massive gathering in Washington on January 21, will accept the prize.

PEN, is a famous literary and human rights organisation, in a statement released it congratulated Bland and co-chairs Tamika D. Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour for helping to "galvanise a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups."

It was very evident in the days leading to the presidential elections that women seemed largely upset by Trump’s comments, policy ideas and past behaviour. Women’s March focused on a vision and story that would attract most Americans upset about the election of Trump. They put together some core organising teams in Washington and other cities and began a journey towards building a protest movement.

The PEN Gala which is considered to be a highlight of the New York literary and social calendars will be held April 25 at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, with other honourees for this year are Stephen Sondheim, the imprisoned Ukranian filmmaker, Oleg Sentsov and publishing executive John Sargent, the CEO of Macmillan. French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and Lee-Anne Walters and Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha were the recipients of the award last year.

Pic Credit:  New York Mag

Also Read: The Women’s March Around The World: How Many And Where?