PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.
Image: Alaa Abd El-Fattah, courtesy of www.freealaa.org . Photo by Mosaab El-Shamy. TORONTO, September 19, 2023 — Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a leading pro-democracy writer imprisoned in Egypt, has won PEN Canada’s One …
Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 PL (from PEN International website) May 21, 2023: PEN International, the literary and free expression organisation, has released a letter signed by 103 Nobel Laureates, …
To mark International Women’s Day 2023, PEN International features the case of Cuban poet and activist María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, imprisoned since July 2021 for her criticism of the Cuban government, and for participating in the peaceful protests that saw thousands of Cubans taking to the streets around the country and demanding reforms. Take action today to free María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez.
Take Action for Nobel Laureate Ales Bialiatski on International Mother Language Day International Mother Language Day, held every year on February 21, is observed to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, and multilingualism. …
José Rubén Zamora Marroquín is a renowned Guatemalan journalist and founder of three of the most-read newspapers in Guatemala and Central America: Siglo Veintiuno, Nuestro Diario, and elPeriódico.
Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian writer, journalist, human rights defender, and Honorary Member of the Danish, Belgian, Norwegian, and Swedish PEN centres. She is the former Vice-President and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), co-winner of the 2013 Oxfam Novib / PEN Award, and winner of the 2011 Per Anger Prize and the 2009 Alexander Langer Award.
PEN Centres around the world are appalled by Monday’s news that writer Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Ko Jimmy) is among four pro-democracy activists who have been executed by the military junta, following a show trial that denied their ability to establish their innocence according to international fair trial norms. According to sources, Kyaw Min Yu’s family have yet to be informed of the specific date that his execution took place.
May 3, 2022: Today, on World Press Freedom Day 2022, PEN International features the case of investigative journalist Ismail al-Iskandrani, detained by the Egyptian authorities for exercising his right to freedom of …
PEN Canada strongly condemns the unsubstantiated and outrageous charges against Cuban artists Maykel “El Osorbo” Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Prosecutors have requested a sentence of 10 and …
Myanmar: Zarganar’s arrest highlights junta’s efforts to silence critics