PEN America to Honor Imprisoned Iranian Writers and Free Expression Advocates Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi at 2021 Gala
PEN America today announces three imprisoned Iranian writers and free expression advocates—celebrated poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker Baktash Abtin; novelist and journalist Keyvan Bajan; and author, literary critic, and popular… More
Cuba: Writers and artists remain threatened and imprisoned two months after protests
In the two months since historic mass demonstrations swept through Cuba on July 11, there have been at least 39 documented arrests of artists related to the protests, four… More
Artists at Risk Connection Releases New Podcast, ‘Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia’
In a limited-run podcast Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia from PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, five artists and cultural rights defenders from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the… More
Threats to Participants in Hindu Nationalism Conference Risk Silencing Academic Freedom
PEN America condemns this campaign of intimidation and retaliation against writers and public intellectuals, and supports their rights to free expression and freedom of academic thought and inquiry. More
Oregon School District Bans BLM, LGBTQ+ Symbols
(New York, NY) — After moving to ban LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter symbols, a school district in Oregon is now in the midst of developing a policy to… More
PEN American Condemns Guilty Verdict in Sham Trial of Belarusian Activists
A court in Belarus’ capital Minsk this week convicted two opposition activists on politically-motivated charges of conspiracy to usurp state power. More
PEN America Condemns Nicaragua’s Ongoing Press Crackdown, Political Repression
PEN America today decried the ongoing crackdown on press and political freedom in the country in advance of elections later this year. More
PEN America Decries Russia’s Expulsion of Comedian
The Russian government this week issued an order permanently expelling Idrak Mirzalizade, a Belarusian standup comedian, from Russia in retaliation for a joke he made about racial discrimination in… More
New Cuban Cyber Security Laws Will Deepen Government Repression
A new package of cyber security laws introduced last week in Cuba threaten to further curtail online dissent and pose an ever-greater threat to free expression in a country… More
Natalia Estemirova | Status: Murdered | Russia
On July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a journalist and human rights defender, was abducted by four gunmen on her way to work in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Estemirova… More