![Lumos Fundraising Event Hosted By J.K. Rowling k rowling award advocacy pen america](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/jk-rowling-award-advocacy-pen-america.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is to receive a prestigious award recognizing her advocacy on and off the page.
The PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award will honor Rowling for how her work embodies the principles of free expression, and for her support of various causes including Multiple Sclerosis research, eliminating social exclusion and fighting censorship. PEN America will present the award to Rowling at its annual Literary Gala on May 16, the literary organization announced Monday.
“I’m deeply honored to receive this award and humbled that my work has been recognized as having moral value by an organization I so admire,” Rowling told the AP in a statement. “I’ve long been a supporter of PEN, which does invaluable work on behalf of imprisoned writers and in defense of freedom of speech.”
PEN America has given the annual award to writers including Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie who defend freedom of expression and the open transmission of ideas — just as S.P.E.W. defended house elves or the Order of the Phoenix defended the wizarding world against the dark arts.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- Ukraine’s Plan to Survive Trump
- The Rise of a New Kind of Parenting Guru
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com