PEN Canada envisions a world where
writers are free to write,
readers are free to read,
and freedom of expression prevails
PEN International joins Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish PEN centres in expressing deep concern for the well-being of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was handed over 38 years in prison and 148 lashes for national security-related offences.
PEN Canada is currently accepting submissions for the 2019 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. The competition is for unpublished writers aged 17-30. The winner receives a $3,000 cash prize and mentorship from a distinguished Canadian writer. You can submit an entry here up to midnight of April 15, 2019. This year the prize will be […]
PEN Canada pays tribute to the life and work of Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson in a conversation with Rick Mercer. Join PEN Canada as we honour literary power couple Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, founding members and past presidents of our centre. We’ll engage them in conversation about their early days with PEN — they […]
Artist and journalist Zehra Doğan was released yesterday from Tarsus prison in Mersin, Turkey, after serving over five hundred days behind bars. Doğan was given a prison sentence of two years, nine months and 22 days on a charge of ‘propagandising for a terrorist organisation’ for her work as a painter and journalist. Doğan should […]
On behalf of the undersigned media freedom organisations, representing thousands of journalists and human rights activists across Europe, we urge the Slovak authorities to immediately start examining state responsibility in the failure to prevent the assassination of Ján Kuciak. Tomorrow marks a full year since journalist Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová were murdered in […]
Nominations sought for the PEN Canada/Ken Filkow Prize Nominations for the 2019 PEN Canada/Ken Filkow prize are now open. The $1,000 annual prize is awarded to an individual or group that has advanced freedom of expression in Canada. The deadline for nominations is March 21, 2019. Previous winners of the prize include Raihan Abir and Desmond […]
PEN Canada is now accepting English language submissions for the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. The annual award aims to encourage new writing and to provide a space where young, unpublished writers can submit short stories, creative non-fiction, journalism, and poetry. A jury of distinguished PEN Canada members will judge the shortlisted submissions and applicants […]
Turkey: Global appeal marks 1000 days behind bars for Nedim Türfent IPI, PEN International and MLSA collects signatures for a joint letter to support Nedim February 5, 2019 – Over 650 writers, journalists, publishers, artists and activists are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of news editor, reporter and poet Nedim Türfent. Today marks 1000 days […]
PEN strongly condemns the assassination of Alaa Mashthob Abboud, a well-known and award-winning Iraqi novelist who was shot dead on February 2, 2019 by an unknown armed group.
By Paola Gómez Restrepo, member of PEN Canada’s Writer-in-Exile Network and was the 2015 PEN Writer-in Residence at George Brown College. I’d heard about the Caravan. I knew it had left Honduras on October 12, and grown dramatically as it passed through El Salvador and Guatemala. I waited for the stories from this exodus, hoping I’d […]
Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking the Rules