The two Russian writers in exile were to have participated in a panel discussion together with Russian-American Gessen at Pen's World Voices festival, held in New York last week.
But after the two Ukrainian writers Artem Chapeye and Artem Chekh, who are also soldiers in the country's army, threatened to cancel their participation, Pen decided to cancel the program.
Ends in protest
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, the debate about how to deal with Russians, including those who have distanced themselves from the regime at home, has raged on social media and elsewhere.
"A (Ukrainian) soldier cannot allow himself to be seen with 'good Russians' until the war is over," Chapeye told The Atlantic.
Masha Gessen, who announced her resignation on Tuesday, has clarified that the decision had nothing to do with the Ukrainian participants' position but how Pen handled the situation.
"I felt that I was told to tell these people (the Russian dissidents) that they would not be allowed to sit at the big table but would be directed to the small table at the side, which felt tasteless," says Masha Gessen in a comment.
"Made a mistake"
Pen, founded in 1922, said in a statement that the situation arose as a result of "making a mistake."
According to the organization, the authors from Ukraine informed that they participated on the condition that no Russians were present at the event.
"We mistakenly assumed that this referred to their panel and not the entire festival," part of the statement reads.