PEN Haiti to Host Its First International Free the Word! Festival
PEN Haiti is hosting its first international Free the Word! festival from April 20 to 22, with a special series of events taking place in Port-au-Prince and Gonaïves. Free… More
South African PEN Protests Treatment of Dalai Lama Visa Application
South African PEN is deeply concerned at the shameful manner in which the South African Government has dealt with an application for a visa to attend the private birthday… More
Statement from PEN International and the Council of Europe on Press Freedom Day
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the President of PEN International, John Ralston Saul, today made the following joint statement to mark World Press… More
Leading Writers Unite in Fight for Free Expression
PEN International, the worldwide community of writers and foremost advocate for free expression, meets in Tokyo this week to urge increased campaigning on behalf of silenced and imprisoned colleagues.… More
International PEN Elects New President
The International PEN Assembly of Delegates last week elected John Ralston Saul as International President. He will succeed Jirí Grušá, one of the most important Czech writers, who has… More
On World Press Freedom Day, PEN Launches Americas Campaign
PEN American Center is marking World Press Freedom Day today by launching the “Freedom to Write in the Americas” campaign which will run through the rest of 2009, and… More
International PEN Statement on the War in Gaza
I had imagined being there beneath sunlight / with the procession of martyrs / using just the one thin bone / to uphold a true conviction More
74th International PEN Congress Calls for Cultural Rights, Free Expression
International PEN closed a historic Congress in Bogotá by strengthening its commitment to supporting writers and literature from all cultures and languages. From September 17 to 22 , over… More
At 73rd PEN Congress, Focus Is on PEN in Africa, Iraqi Writers & Linguistic Rights
During the first week of July, PEN held its historic International Congress in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first time in 40 years and only the second time in its… More
PEN Congress reasserts the role of literature in a world without peace
Horst Köhler, Federal President of Germany, welcomed more than 450 writers from PEN Centres around the world to Berlin at the opening ceremony of International PEN’s annual Congress. President… More