PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.
José Rubén Zamora Marroquín is a renowned Guatemalan journalist and founder of three of the most-read newspapers in Guatemala and Central America: Siglo Veintiuno, Nuestro Diario, and elPeriódico.
Server Mustafayev is a Crimean Tatar citizen journalist and human rights defender, founder and coordinator of the grassroots, human rights movement Crimean Solidarity in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Tsitsi Dangarembga is an award-winning Zimbabwean novelist, filmmaker, playwright, activist, and founding member of PEN Zimbabwe.
On September 16, 2022, a young woman from the Kurdish town of Saqez in northwest Iran travelled to Tehran. Shortly after her arrival, she was arrested for wearing an “improper hijab” and later died while in the custody of the “Morality Police.” Her tragic and unjust death sparked a series of protests and her name Zhina (Mahsa) soon became a national symbol of resistance to an oppressive, theocratic and misogynist government.
Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian writer, journalist, human rights defender, and Honorary Member of the Danish, Belgian, Norwegian, and Swedish PEN centres. She is the former Vice-President and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), co-winner of the 2013 Oxfam Novib / PEN Award, and winner of the 2011 Per Anger Prize and the 2009 Alexander Langer Award.
PEN Canada was shocked and horrified by the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State last Friday. Now, a few days later, we are heartened by the positive news as to his condition – on the mend, says his agent — despite wounds that are life-changing and the prospect of a long road to recovery.
May 3, 2022: Today, on World Press Freedom Day 2022, PEN International features the case of investigative journalist Ismail al-Iskandrani, detained by the Egyptian authorities for exercising his right to freedom of …
PEN Canada strongly condemns the unsubstantiated and outrageous charges against Cuban artists Maykel “El Osorbo” Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Prosecutors have requested a sentence of 10 and …
Calling all champions of freedom of expression in Canada The PEN Canada Ken Filkow Prize has been generously doubled by its funders this year to $2,000. It is awarded to …
SUPERFAN SHOWCASE SERIES — A MEETING OF GREAT MINDS BY PEN CANADA & WORDFEST Thursday, Mar 31 @ 9 PM – 10:10 PM EDT FREE LIVESTREAM EVENT REGISTER HERE We …