Writers At Risk
PEN’s bedrock work is long-term advocacy on behalf of individual writers who are being persecuted because of their work. This page features several of our highest priority cases. With the help of our members and supporters, we are carrying out campaigns to win their release and ensure they are safe and can write and publish freely.
Take a moment to share information about these writers and take action on their behalf.
This is only a small sampling of writers under threat around the world. Click here for the most recent PEN International case list.
Yang Tongyan | Status: Deceased | China
A writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Yang Tongyan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for “subversion of state power,” and died in November 2017 while… More
Aref Dalila | Status: Released | Syria
Dr. Aref Dalila, born in 1942, is a writer and former economics professor and Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University. He was an advocate of political… More
Tsering Woeser | Status: Under Threat | China
Award-winning Tibetan writer and poet Woeser was born in 1966 in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, where her father was a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army. More
J. S. Tissainayagam | Status: Released | Sri Lanka
J. S. Tissainayagam is a Tamil journalist for the Sunday Times whose articles have also been published in the magazine North-Eastern Monthly. He was also editor of the news… More
Ali Al-Domaini | Status: Released | Saudi Arabia
Ali Al-Domaini is a poet and writer whose publications include three collections of poetry and one novel in Arabic. As a political activist, he has campaigned for a move… More
Stanislav Dmitrievsky | Status: Under Threat | Russia
Stanislav Dmitrievsky, a human rights advocate, is continually under threat for his work promoting human rights in Chechnya. More
Zouhair Yahyaoui | Status: Deceased | Tunisia
The Freedom to Write Committee mourns the passing of Zouhair Yahyaoui. According to his family, he died of a heart attack on Sunday, March 13, 2005. He was arrested… More
Aung Than & Zeya Aung | Status: Released | Myanmar
Aung Than is a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Zeya Aung is a student at Pegu University. Together they wrote a book of poems called… More
Mamadali Mahmudov | Status: Released | Uzbekistan
Mamadali Mahmudov is a renowned Uzbek writer and opposition activist who was released in 2013 after serving a 14-year sentence on charges related to a series of explosions in… More
Alert Us
To any writer artist who is at risk, or is in need of assistance, including those denied entry into the U.S. as a result of the latest Trump Administration travel ban. 
PEN America On 
The proposed expansion of EU privacy regulations is deeply troubling. Particularly in this era of "fake news" and altered historical narratives, the ability to change or erase the record should be applied sparingly. https://t.co/D6ZYBZPdFo
[email protected]'s Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist on deck for discussion tonight at @TheEdisonLA for #LABookClub with @melissachadburn! #ReadtheResistance https://t.co/AZX3BANOBl