Writers around the world face grave risks for speaking out, telling truths, and pushing back against the powerful. Today and throughout history, we see writers and other cultural figures hold governments, individuals, and institutions to account in a way that few others can. For this, they are imprisoned, exiled, harassed, and face other forms of reprisal. Established in 2022 by a sizable donation from the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust, the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center was created to expand PEN America’s advocacy on behalf of writers at risk globally, rallying to their defense and promoting the freedom to write.

PEN America examines threats to free expression in our annual Freedom to Write Index, a year-end count of imprisoned writers worldwide. Explore our Writers at Risk Database for updated tracking of cases of writers, journalists, artists, academics, and public intellectuals around the world facing myriad threats for their writing and expression. Learn more about the methodology used for our Index and Database here.