Nazlı Ilıcak | Status: In Prison | Turkey
Nazli Ilicak, a 72-year-old veteran journalist, former member of parliament, and avid supporter of democracy, was arrested as part of a crackdown following an attempted coup in July 2016.… More
Nasrin Sotoudeh | Status: In Prison | Iran
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent writer, human rights lawyer and activist, was abruptly re-arrested on June 13, 2018, and taken to Evin prison. Her arrest came shortly after her legal… More
Tashi Wangchuk | Status: In Prison | China
Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan language activist and entrepreneur, was sentenced to five years in prison for “inciting separatism” on May 22, 2018. These charges were a consequence of his… More
Galal El-Behairy | Status: In Prison | Egypt
Galal El-Behairy is an Egyptian poet, lyricist, and activist who has been in detention in Tora Prison in Cairo since March 2018. More
Oleg Sentsov | Status: In Prison | Russia
Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director, was sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison on charges of terrorism on August 25, 2015. PEN believes that the charges stem… More
Chen Yunfei | Status: In Prison | China
Chen Yunfei is a performance artist who works at the intersection of human rights activism and art. His art is overtly political, promoting the Chinese pro-democracy movement. More
Roman Sushchenko | Status: In Prison | Russia
Roman Sushchenko, a Ukrainian journalist, was detained in Moscow on September 30, 2016, on charges of espionage, and has since been detained in Lefortovo Prison. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB)… More
Nguyen Huu Vinh & Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy | Status: In Prison | Vietnam
On March 23, 2016, the People's Court of Hanoi sentenced Nguyen Huu Vinh to five years in prison under Article 258 (2) of Vietnam's Penal Code for "abusing democratic… More
Alexey Kungurov | Status: In Prison | Russia
Alexey Kungurov is a blogger from Russian Siberia who was charged with public calls to terrorism for his blogpost in LiveJournal named “Who did Putin Falcons Actually Bomb” where… More
Ashraf Fayadh | Status: In Prison | Saudi Arabia
Ashraf Fayadh is a Palestinian poet, artist, and curator living in Saudi Arabia, who was sentenced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes on charges of apostasy on… More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
“If anyone comes for an em dash and tries to say that it’s used too much, I’m willing to defend it with my life." Which side of the em dash debate are you on? https://t.co/LjgcxTaI27
Come join us for a FREE #WomenInTranslation event at @mcnallyjackson on 8/22 with translators Ann Goldstein, @jennymcpheee, SevinçTürkkan, and Inea Bushnaq. For more information: https://t.co/ietIrmNEKI. #WITMonth
We're so excited to be kicking off @DBookFestival with writers Rigoberto González, Richard Blanco and Gabriela Baeza Ventura discussing the power of Latinx literature, free expression, and notions of home & identity: https://t.co/wJaQTzh82V.