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Crackdown Persists

International PEN is alarmed by another wave of arrests in Vietnam, in which a number of writers and activists have been arrested in recent weeks for their dissenting views… More

Amazon.com Awards Grant to PEN American Center

PEN American Center has been awarded a $25,000 grant from amazon.com to further develop its online communication resources and mobilize forces for freedom of expression throughout the world. This… More

Two Editors Jailed for A Year

International PEN protests the one-year prison sentence handed to newspaper editors Ibrahim Mohamed Ali and Asrat Wedajo on August 24, 2009 for their coverage of sensitive issues. They were… More

Six Journalists Pardoned and Released

International PEN welcomes the September 3, 2009 release of the six Gambian journalists who were given a two-year prison sentence last month for sedition and defamation after they criticized… More

Writers Freed in Afghanistan, China

PEN welcomes the release of journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, who had originally been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Afghanistan, and Ilham Tohti, a member of the Uighur PEN… More

Tamil Journalist Sentenced to 20 Years’ Imprisonment

International PEN is appalled by the 20-year prison sentence handed down to Tamil journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam (J. S.) Tissainayagam, under anti-terror legislation for his writing and publishing activities. He… More

The Return of Joe Prison

M.D. “Doc” Bass56130Rahway PrisonLockbag RRahway, NJ 07065“…but if the plant is sown and reared in the wrong soil, it will develop every contrary defect…”(Socrates)In spite of the desperate hope… More

Turmoil

Richard Knox139-896PO Box 69London, OH 43140TurmoilAs I sit within my cell…within the mess I’ve madeI sense another self inside amused at dreams mislaidDreams and plans—and intentions gone astrayAnd I… More

Of A Time Removed

Elliott C. RicehillBox 316Fort Madison, Iowa 52627 It is said that the Qahadi Comanches called thefirst Anglos they knew, los godammies, after thefirst English words they learned. In those times,Comanche… More