PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.
How do authors transform the raw material of a traumatic memory into a compelling fiction or nonfiction narrative? This was the task for 10 writers at a workshop last month. …
Ira Wells has been elected as president of PEN Canada. Wells is a critic, essayist, professor of literature, and author of three books, the latest of which, On Book Banning (Biblioasis, …
Photo: women enjoy a field trip that Robina coordinated. “Your experiences are your strength. You don’t need to have everything figured out—just begin.” This is the advice Robina Aryubwal would …
For more than a decade, the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award has recognized excellence in emerging, yet-to-be published Canadian writers. The 2025 prize is currently open for submissions — unpublished …
The Writers for Peace Committee, founded in 1984, is a committee of PEN International. Each year, the committee meets in Bled, Slovenia, with this year’s meeting (April 7-10, 2025) focusing …
Arzu Yildiz at work as a court reporter in Ankara, Turkiye. Photo taken inside the courthouse. Written by Arzu Yildiz Do Canadian media truly reflect the voices and colours of …
This letter first appeared in our March 2025 newsletter. You can subscribe to PEN Canada’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest free expression news and hear about our PEN community. …
Nancy Huggett reads from her collection as she accepts her 2024 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award at a ceremony in October 2024. “To find the form that accommodates the mess, …
Thank you to all of our patrons, members, donors, supporters, volunteers, writers, readers, peers, and friends who have been a part of the PEN community in the past year. We …
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, has been a devastating and prolonged conflict led by the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad. The conflict has caused immense humanitarian suffering, …