Vision
PEN Center USA endeavors to create a world in which freedom of expression is guaranteed for all writers, and where friendship and intellectual cooperation thrive among writers and readers worldwide.

Mission
PEN Center USA’s mission is to stimulate and maintain interest in the written word, to foster a vital literary culture, and to defend freedom of expression domestically and internationally.

• PEN Center USA defends and promotes freedom of expression throughout the world by advocating for the release of imprisoned writers, and for the protection of writers who suffer political prosecution, persecution, and censorship.
• Through programming and services, PEN Center USA cultivates a diverse, dynamic and engaged literary community that includes emerging and existing writers, translators, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians, readers: everyone who loves and supports language and literature. 

PEN Center USA is supported in part by grants from the City of Los
 Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Dwight Stuart Youth 
Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The 
Kayne Foundation, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the 
Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the 
Arts.