Advocacy & Aid: Writers in Exile
Joan Leishman Memorial Fund
The Joan Leishman Memorial Fund (JLMF) provides urgent assistance and critical support directly to exiled writers living in Canada and, in special cases, their family members.
Joan Leishman was a remarkable journalist, humanitarian, and a cherished mentor of our Writers in Exile group. She died in August 2025 after a tragic accident that shocked her family, friends, and everyone at PEN who knew her. She was 67 and left behind two daughters and four grandsons.
To honour Joan’s memory, PEN Canada has established the Joan Leishman Memorial Fund.
In establishing the fund, PEN Canada recognizes how daunting it can be for a writer or journalist to start a new life in Canada. The fund will support:
- urgent assistance and critical needs related to resettlement in Canada
- professional and academic fees related to writing programs and projects
- occasional awards of merit
For interested eligible writers, an application form will open in mid-2026.
Make a Donation to the Fund
You can donate to the Joan Leishman Memorial Fund by:
- filling out the online form below;
- contacting us by phone at 416-703-8448 ext 2221; or
- sending a cheque payable to PEN Canada to 401 Richmond St. W., Suite 244, Toronto, ON, M5V 3A8, Canada. Please include a note that your donation is intended for the Joan Leishman Memorial Fund.
Please note, all donations to the JLMF will only be used to aid successful applicants, and possibly their families, at a future date.
About Joan Leishman
Joan reported on some of the biggest stories of her lifetime. As CBC Radio’s first bureau chief in South Africa, she covered Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and his subsequent election as president. She also covered the genocide in Rwanda. Joan later served as CBC TV’s bureau chief in Latin America. Upon her return to Toronto years later, Joan produced several documentaries for The National.
As a volunteer mentor at PEN, Joan was known for her deep empathy and fierce advocacy for members of the Writers in Exile group, many of whom had fled to Canada to avoid imprisonment, torture, and death at the hands of repressive regimes. They came from a growing number of countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Venezuela. Joan offered some of them temporary refuge in her home, including Hoda Karimi Sadr, an Iranian blogger:
“Joan listened with rare generosity, creating space for stories too often silenced by fear or displacement. She never sought recognition; her impact came from presence – steady, kind, and luminously wise. Even in silence, her voice resonated with strength.”
Sudanese writer, Bushra Elfadil, also stayed in Joan’s home:
“She was a great woman. Her solidarity to me and others came from the heart of a rare human being. Though I’m older than her, she showed me the protection, respect, and care which I witnessed only with my late mother when I was but a child. Ì will never forget Joan Leishman.”
Starting a new life as an exiled writer in Canada is difficult; finding the time to write while trying to survive is daunting and breaking into the Canadian journalism and publishing markets is a steep climb. In small but meaningful ways, the Joan Leishman Memorial Fund will assist the writers in ways that will help them achieve their goals.
We hope you’ll donate to the fund to honour Joan’s memory and keep her beautiful and generous spirit with us.
Contact us about the fund
If you have questions about the fund, or stories about Joan to share with us, please email PEN Canada at queries@pencanada.ca. We look forward to hearing from you.
Joan with members of the PEN Canada Writers in Exile group, along with their family members and senior volunteers.