Egypt has long been among the top 10 jailers of writers worldwide. Since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi seized power in 2013, the crackdown on creative voices and those opposing human rights abuses in the country has only intensified. Yet many creatives continue to speak out against authoritarianism and aspire to a better future. Galal El-Behairy is one of them.
Join us to mark the 35th birthday of poet, lyricist, and PEN America’s 2025 Freedom to Write honoree Galal El-Behairy, currently detained in Egypt for his words. The PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center will host a powerful conversation on the enduring role of creative expression as a tool of peaceful resistance and the unbreakable link between creativity and dissent, from the perspective of El-Behairy’s family and Egyptian writers and journalists now living in exile due to reprisals for their work.
Moderated by PEN America’s Asma Laouira, this conversation will include exiled novelist and 2016 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree Ahmed Naji, PEN International’s Head of Middle East and North Africa Mina Thabet, and exiled journalist and human rights defender Basma Mostafa.
Our guest of honor, Galal’s father Abdelfattah Galal, will speak about the profound impact of his son’s imprisonment on their family, the stolen moments and years, and the quiet devastation of watching a loved one punished simply for writing.
To show solidarity with El-Behairy on his birthday, at 12 PM ET during the event, we urge writers and advocates to post on social media calling for his unconditional release by sharing his poetry and using #FreeGalal and #PoetryIsNotACrime.
This conversation is organized by the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center. A recording of the event will be made available on YouTube.
