PEN America 2021 Freedom to Write Index: Myanmar Joins China and Saudi Arabia as World’s Top Jailers of Writers
During 2021, Myanmar accounted for the single-largest increase of writers and public intellectuals newly jailed for exercising free expression, due to the military junta’s crackdown on influential voices such… More
Raif Badawi | Status: Conditional Release | Saudi Arabia
Raif Badawi is a blogger from Saudi Arabia and the editor of the website Liberal Saudi Network. More
Jamal Khashoggi | Status: Murdered | Saudi Arabia
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist who had been exiled in the U.S. since mid-2017, disappeared while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018; … More
Virtual Solidarity Reading to Honor Imprisoned Women Writers and Activists
On Thursday, May 27, PEN America—in partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Amnesty International USA, and the makers of the documentary film NASRIN—will host a virtual reading in… More
Nouf Abdulaziz, Loujain Al-Hathloul, Eman Al-Nafjan | Status: Conditional Release | Saudi Arabia
Writer-activists Nouf Abdulaziz, Loujain Al-Hathloul, and Eman Al-Nafjan were detained without charge by the Saudi government for their outspoken dissent. More
PEN America Welcomes House Passage of Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act
In a strong bipartisan vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act of 2021. More
PEN America: China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey Remain World’s Top Jailers of Writers
In PEN America’s annual census of detained writers worldwide, The Freedom to Write Index, the literary and free expression group found that in 2020, at least 273 writers, academics,… More
The PEN Pod: The Propagation of Disinformation and Protocols of Protest with Suzanne Nossel
“It’s an ecosystem—a dysfunctional, polluted ecosystem. Within that ecosystem, among the most powerful actors—no question about it—are the social media companies.” More
Saudi Official’s Death Threat Against UN Investigator Shows “Outright Lawlessness”
It is hardly surprising that the regime behind his killing would view her work as a threat, but the horrifying revelation that a Saudi official threatened to murder Callamard… More
The PEN Pod: The Right to Protest and Vaccine Hesitancy with Suzanne Nossel
“The introduction of this sweeping anti-protest legislation that restricts where you can protest. . . really runs counter to freedom of assembly rights.” More
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ICYMI, @AKurkov of @PenUkraine spoke at the #PENWorldVoices festival earlier this month; @TIME has reprinted his moving remarks, including: "Reality is now scarier, more dramatic than any fictional prose. In this context novels lose their meaning."
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Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali is a scholar of disaster medicine who is at imminent risk of execution in #Iran. #SaveAhmadreza #FreeDjalali before it is too late.
