PEN Canada envisions a world where
writers are free to write,
readers are free to read,
and freedom of expression prevails
Largely without public debate – and absent any new safeguards – we’ve become even more dependent on a technological ecosystem that is notoriously insecure, poorly regulated, highly invasive and prone to serial abuse.
There is a widespread belief that social media companies do not care about these problems and have resisted every attempt by government to regulate them. But that is not always the case
PEN is delighted to learn of the temporary release of prominent Iranian writer, lawyer and human rights activist, Nasrin Sotoudeh, on November 7, 2020.
Sedigeh Vasmaghi is a theologian, poet, writer, and women’s rights activist who has written on a broad sweep of theological, political and social issues. She is highly regarded in Iran and abroad for her commentary on Islamic jurisprudence in Iran. In August 2020, Vasmaghi was sentenced to one year in prison for signing a petition […]
Paola Ugaz is a Peruvian investigative journalist, editor and writer. She is facing a campaign of legal harassment, threats, and defamation lawsuits due to her investigations into acts of corruption, as well as physical, psychological and sexual abuse within the Peruvian religious organization Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, which she has been investigating since 2010.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is a Ugandan novelist and journalist. He is the author of The Greedy Barbarians, a novel which explores themes of high-level corruption in a fictional country.
Chimengül Awut is an editor and poet from Kashgar, southern Xinjiang. At the time of her detention, Chimengül worked as an editor at the Kashgar Publishing House in Xinjiang.
Osman Kavala is a publisher, civil and cultural rights activist and philanthropist working toward peace, human rights, and democracy in Turkey.
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi continues to chill freedom of expression in the Middle East By Abdulrahman Matar Two years have passed since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi authorities have succeeded in exhausting the legal process through an official recognition of the crime and a mock […]
Maria Saba is the recipient of the 2020 PEN Canada-Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship, which provides peer mentorship to one member of PEN Canada’s Writers-in-Exile program each year.
Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking the Rules