Press Releases
PEN America experts are available for interviews with the press. Please direct inquiries to Suzanne Trimel, Senior Advisor, Communications and Media, at [email protected].
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Chinese Writer Liao Yiwu Prevented From Traveling to German Book Festival
PEN American Center today expressed outrage that writer Liao Yiwu was removed from a plane he had boarded in Chengdu, southwestern China, to travel to a literature festival in… More
PEN, Free Expression Groups Call on Iran to Open Door to UN Rights Experts
Organizations supporting journalists, writers and publishers in Iran have called on Tehran officials to open the door to the United Nations’ special rapporteurs on human rights, including its expert… More
Free Expression Organizations to Iran: Release Jailed Journalists, Writers
A coalition of leading international journalists, writers, and publishers organizations today launched a campaign to press the government of Iran to release their colleagues imprisoned in the wake of… More
PEN American Center Reacts to Court’s Rejection of Liu Xiaobo’s Appeal
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s summary rejection of Liu Xiaobo’s appeal. The brief, inadequate hearing and quick decision only furthered the impression that the decisions of the… More
PEN President Appiah Nominates Liu Xiaobo for Nobel Peace Prize
PEN American Center President and Professor of Philosophy Kwame Anthony Appiah on Friday sent his nomination of Chinese colleague Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Peace Prize to the Norwegian… More
Detained PEN Officer Zhao Shiying Released
PEN American Center has learned that Zhao Shiying, Secretary-General of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), has been allowed to return home after nearly two weeks in police custody.… More
PEN Celebrates Victory in Tariq Ramadan Case
PEN American Center welcomed the news today that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has signed orders effectively ending the exclusion of Swiss Scholar Tariq Ramadan from the United… More
Writer and PEN Officer Zhao Shiying Detained in China
PEN American Center today condemned the detention of Zhao Shiying, Secretary General of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), who was taken from his home and had his personal… More
Tamil Journalist J. S. Tissainayagam Released on Bail
PEN American Center welcomes the release on bail of Tamil journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam (J. S.) Tissainayagam from Welikada Prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 11, 2010. Tissainayagam, who… More
Writers Ring in New Year with Call to Free Liu Xiaobo
E.L. Doctorow, Don DeLillo, A.M. Homes, Edward Albee and dozens of other members of PEN American Center staged a New Year’s Eve rally this morning on the steps of… More