PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.
12 October 2023: PEN International is deeply concerned by reports that the Indian authorities have approved the prosecution of writer Arundhati Roy over a speech she gave 13 years ago. We call on the Indian authorities to immediately cease the legal proceedings against her and to end its weaponization of the legal system against writers, journalists, and others who engage in peaceful expression. Criticism of the government is not a crime.
PEN Canada celebrates the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Iranian writer and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran, and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.” Ms Mohammadi is currently serving a ten-year sentence in a Tehran prison after repeated arrests since 2009.
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 …
Image: Alaa Abd El-Fattah, courtesy of www.freealaa.org . Photo by Mosaab El-Shamy. TORONTO, September 19, 2023 — Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a leading pro-democracy writer imprisoned in Egypt, has won PEN Canada’s One …
TORONTO, September 19, 2023 – Joan Leishman, recently-retired CBC veteran journalist and longtime advocate for refugee writers, has won PEN Canada’s 2023 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize. The prize recognizes a Canadian …
Photo credit: Ashford Hamilton Article was last updated Tuesday, September 19, 2023. TORONTO, September 18, 2023 – Brandi Morin, an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist and best-selling author, has won the PEN …
The author on her collection of poems, Hungry Ghosts, and “how food can bring together what trauma tears apart.”
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“Hungry Ghosts is a deeply moving and masterfully crafted collection of poems that surpasses the boundaries of memory, love, family, and personal growth,” reads the jury citation. “The writer’s exquisite precision and grace, infused with profound wisdom, skillfully navigates the delicate art of letting go, effortlessly weaving the tapestry of past and present.”
July 3, 2023– PEN International joins PEN Ukraine in mourning the killing of writer, PEN Ukraine member and human rights defender Victoria Amelina, following a horrific Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine on June 27, 2023. Amelina was seriously injured and rushed to hospital in Dnipro. She passed away on July 1, 2023. She was 37 years old.