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Diary Marif has won PEN Canada’s 2025 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize. The prize recognizes a Canadian citizen, or institution, who provides significant help to an imperilled writer or journalist overseas.

The jury citation notes that for the last five years Mr. Marif “has selflessly dedicated himself to raising awareness of the dire plight of the Kurdish journalist, Sherwan Sherwani, as well as four other Kurdish reporters, imprisoned in Iraqi Kurdistan.” It adds that Marif’s meticulous documentation of the harsh prison conditions faced by the journalists, and his indefatigable advocacy have included fundraising on behalf of their families and advocates; mobilization of public awareness campaigns; the provision of safe houses; and efforts to facilitate the intervention of the Canadian government, journalists, and other writers.

“Despite considerable risk to his own safety,” the jury notes that Marif “travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan in October 2023 and met with members of the regional parliament, journalists, and organizations urging pressure on the authorities for the release of Sherwani, whose family and a close collaborator had faced personal threats.”

Brendan de Caires, executive director of PEN Canada, said: “Mr. Marif’s tenacity, patience, and moral courage, in circumstances that would silence almost anyone else, are exactly what this prize was created to honour.”

The prize was introduced in 2022 in memory of Marie-Ange Garrigue, a citizen of Canada and France, who practiced law in Canada for many years. Ms. Garrigue died in France in January 2022. She had a deep commitment to independent opinion fearlessly expressed. The prize is generously funded by Cynthia Wine and Philip Slayton. Previous winners have included Mariam Al Zier, a paralegal and immigration consultant, and Joan Leishman, a veteran CBC journalist and advocate for refugees who has since passed away.

Marif will formally receive the prize on Friday, November 28, 2025 at the annual PEN Canada Awards Night in Toronto.

About PEN Canada

PEN Canada is a nonpartisan organization that celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression, and assists writers in peril at home and abroad. Based in Toronto, the English-language Canadian centre was founded in 1983 and is proud to be one of over 140 centres of PEN International.