Michael Roberts, PEN Executive Director, announced in a February letter to PEN membership that he will cease his directorship June 30, the end of the current program year. Roberts has led PEN as Executive Director for eleven years. “There is never an ideal time to leave a wonderful position like this one, but I believe I must heed the wisdom embodied in PEN’s limits on officer and trustee service and make room for new energy and a fresh outlook in our professional leadership… I look forward to at least one more major assignment in my professional life, and the time to prepare that move is now,” the letter read.
Executive Vice President Laurence J. Kirshbaum said that Roberts has been influential in the development of PEN World Voices Festival and major new initiatives in Freedom to Write, and the organization has enjoyed a significant increase in its national and international reputation. A search committee, working with the executive search firm, James & Co. of New York, has been charged to seek Roberts’ successor.