PEN Canada envisions a world where
writers are free to write,
readers are free to read,
and freedom of expression prevails
On August 16, 2019, Rita Wong, an award-winning Vancouver poet and an associate professor in Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, was sentenced to 28 days of incarceration at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge, BC. She had participated in a peaceful protest on behalf of […]
On July 30, 2019, a court in northern Kyrgyzstan upheld the life sentence of journalist and human rights activist Azimjon Askarov. Responding to the news, Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, said: ‘This trial was a mockery of justice and exposed once again Kyrgyzstan’s broken judicial system. According to reports, Azimjon […]
On August 13, 100 people attended the unveiling ceremony of the Liu Xiaobo Empty Chair Memorial outside Amnesty International Canada’s Ottawa headquarters.
The attack on writer, journalist and activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro on 21 July 2019 exposes once again the dangers of being a journalist in Mexico, as well as the urgent need to combat impunity.
The 26 press freedom and human rights organisations and media outlets named below strongly condemn the recent wave of attacks and threats against the investigative news website The Intercept Brasil. We call on the authorities to ensure respect for the constitutionally guaranteed right of journalists to protect the confidentiality of their sources. The attacks began on 9 June after The Intercept […]
Read the full text of the letter below: July 19, 2019 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, 1049 Brussels, Belgium Dear President von der Leyen, We are writing as members of the press freedom community to congratulate you on your appointment as President of the European Commission, […]
Noor Naga is the winner of the 2019 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award for unpublished writers aged 17-30. The award, funded by the RBC Emerging Artists Project, includes a $3,000 cash prize and mentorship from a Canadian author. Pen Canada: You were born in Philadelphia, raised in Dubai, studied in Toronto, and currently live in […]
July 15 marks 500 days since the arrest of Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy. El-Behairy was sentenced for “insulting the military” and “spreading false news” on charges related to his latest book of poetry, ‘The Finest Women on Earth’. We call for his immediate and unconditional release, the quashing of his sentence, and for all charges against […]
Onder Deligoz is a Turkish author and journalist currently residing in Canada. He was the recipient of the 2018 Humber School of Writers, PEN Writers in Exile Scholarship. The full scholarship is available to writers in exile who wish to participate in Humber’s Creative Writing by Correspondence Program, where students work with a professional writer-mentor […]
Meeting of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee 2019 PEN International’s 2019 Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee (TLRC) meeting held in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico was themed “Writing the Future in Indigenous Languages” and run from 2-4 May. Over the course of the meeting more than 50 writers, journalists, translators, activists and […]
Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking the Rules