A Climate of Sorrow
By Marcello Di Cintio For the past six months, since the most recent horrors in Gaza began, I’ve been using my Gazan friends’ Facebook activity as proof-of-life. I begin to …
Blog
Online Harms Bill: the good, the balanced and the alarming
This preliminary response was originally published on March 29, 2024 in PEN Canada’s monthly newsletter, as part of the Grace Westcott’s President’s Message. Subscribe to get monthly updates sent to …
Reading list: Black Bodies, White Spaces
Ahead of our Black History Month event, a complementary reading list, with authors from across the diaspora, telling stories of revolution, hidden history, and getting into good trouble. These nine …
You can’t read that: Banning kids’ books in Canada and the United States
By Jennifer Lanthier A dramatic rise in book challenges and book bans targeting what are often called “diverse books” in children’s literature is sweeping North America. While the bans are …
Don Gillmor leads workshop for PEN’s Writers in Exile
Don Gillmor (centre) leads the workshop for the writers, including Bushra Elfadil (left) and Lidiia Karpenko (right). In January, eight members of PEN’s Writers-in-Exile group gathered around a table in …
Tsering Yangzom Lama writes to Gosher Gyatso
Go Sherab Gyatso is one of four cases PEN International is featuring for this year’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Tashi Delek, Go Sherab Gyatso la, We were born on …
Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation
Image: People hold hands in a large circle as drummers perform on stage at event at LeBreton Flats on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day in Ottawa, Canada on …
Q&A with 2023 New Voices Award Winner Christine Wu
The author on her collection of poems, Hungry Ghosts, and “how food can bring together what trauma tears apart.”
Book Bans and Justice of the Imagination
Censorship of 2SLGBTQ+ writing “justice of the imagination,” the critical responsibility of showing all kids that any kid can be the hero of a story.
What I Have Learned from Exiled Journalists
Anneli Andre-Barrett is a senior volunteer for the PEN Canada Writers in Exile (WiE) community, a Refugee Integration Mentor, and Skills Development Team member of Ontario’s Private Refugee Sponsor Network …