海角大神

For her work as a 鈥渇ierce opponent of censorship鈥� and an 鈥渁dvocate for women鈥檚 and girls鈥� rights," PEN America is awarding J.K. Rowling its prestigious free speech award.

The Harry Potter author will be presented the 2016 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service award May 16 at the literary and human rights group's annual gala in New York.

Ms. Rowling was chosen for her work advocating freedom of expression, as well as for her two charitable foundations: Volant, which works to alleviate poverty and social deprivation, especially among women and children, and Lumos, which helps institutionalized children return to family life.

"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

鈥淚鈥檝e long been a supporter of PEN, which does invaluable work on behalf of imprisoned writers and in defense of freedom of speech,鈥� she added.

Rowling is known for using Twitter to stand up for equal rights and empowerment, reported Sarah Caspari in 海角大神. Women's rights and "gay rights advocacy [have] been a common theme on her social media feed."

In fact, Rowling herself is a frequent target of censorship. She was named by the American Library Association in 2006. Her books, which feature a child wizard, are sometimes accused of promoting witchcraft and the occult.

Rowling is a 鈥渇requent object of censorship鈥�, and has 鈥渆merged as a vocal proponent of free expression and access to literature and ideas for children, as well as incarcerated people, the learning-disabled, and women and girls worldwide,"聽PEN American President Andrew Solomon said in a statement.

"Through her writing, Rowling engenders imagination, empathy, humor, and a love of reading, along the way revealing moral choices that help us better understand ourselves," Mr. Solomon added. 鈥淭hrough their experiences with Rowling both on and off the page, countless children have learned not only the power of speaking their own minds, but also the critical importance of hearing others. A gifted storyteller, fierce opponent of censorship, advocate for women鈥檚 and girls鈥� rights, and staunch defender of access to education, Rowling uses all of the tools at her disposal to create a better and more just world for our children.鈥�

This year, PEN is also honoring Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch, who last year joined .

Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, and Tom Stoppard. Last year, from the gala and of protest after PEN gave French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo its annual Freedom of Expression Courage Award.