FROM: PEN America

NOTE: Los Angeles Literature stands with PEN America Los Angeles and the L.A. literary comminity. Read on to find out why.

We write as a coalition of Los Angeles-based literary arts organizations and allies committed to supporting this city’s writers and literary professionals struggling amid the COVID-19 epidemic. We support the prioritization of health and safety measures until the crisis subsides, but request that you include writers and the literary community in forthcoming funding decisions related to recovery from the pandemic, recognizing the essential cultural and economic role they play in our city.

According to the 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy, publishing and printing alone provided over 160,000 jobs to our city in the period studied. When combined with fashion and entertainment, which also employs literary writers, editors, copywriters, as well as screen and teleplay writers, the sector has contributed 59.4 percent of direct creative industry employment in the State of California, and up to 71 percent of the creative workforce in Los Angeles, the study reports.

Today, however, there are many, many writers in Los Angeles who are facing an unprecedented interruption in their livelihoods following the cancellation of book tours and promotional events; ongoing holds on film, television, and new media productions; and the shuttering of local newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets. At the same time, with dark restaurants, closed bookstores, and more, many of the other jobs that make a writing life possible are no longer available. According to the ongoing Americans for the Arts COVID-19 Impact Survey, 95 percent of responding artists have reported lost income due to the crisis. In the same survey, literary and media arts organizations and presenters have reported a median financial impact of –$218,000 per organization, losses particularly felt by organizations that have long worked to serve marginalized literary artists.

We thank the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs for being a valued cultural agency with programs and grants that have worked to ensure that Los Angeles remains a diverse and vital arts center. In the midst of our current crisis, the recent Arts Emergency Relief Fund has been important and appreciated, particularly in its inclusion of individual writers. Additionally, we commend LA City Council Member David Ryu for his motion to amend city law to ease the repurposing of emergency funds for the benefit of the artists and arts nonprofits that need it. Read Rest of Letter Here