PEN International has joined 8 human rights organizations in a joint letter to Guatemala's incoming attorney general. They call for an end to criminal proceedings against journalists, dropping of politically motivated cases, and safe conditions for the return of exiled reporters: buff.ly/9S2KOmN

Very much looking forward to a day of reading. The author proceeds for Tell Others will be donated to @peninternational.bsky.social and @pencanada.bsky.social.

⚡️ Slavko Ćuruvija was murdered in Belgrade in 1999. For 27 years, his family and the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation have fought for justice. Now the Foundation has been ordered to pay damages to those acquitted in the case. ECPMF stands with the Foundation. www.ecpmf.eu/serbia-solid...

According to information shared with PEN International, Dong was hospitalized in April at a prison-affiliated hospital in Tianjin after experiencing heart palpitations and discomfort. He has since been placed under 24-hour cardiac monitoring. www.pen-international.org/news/pen-int...

PEN members — we'll see you in four weeks at our Annual General Meeting, where you'll exercise your vote, hear from committee chairs, and connect with the board. 🗓️ Thursday June 11, 2026 📍 Online and In-person (Victoria College, Toronto) ⏰ 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. RSVP is required: buff.ly/Kqni4fq

"Writers, poets, and journalists who have fled Afghanistan have already paid a heavy price for their expression. Forcing them back now would place them in immediate danger." More on moves by the European Union, Uk, and US to deport or transfer Afghan nationals: ifex.org/pen-internat...

#Belarus: Writer and journalist Andrzej Poczobut spent over five years imprisoned for speaking truth to power. We welcome his release and urge authorities to free all unjustly jailed. Read our full statement with @penbelarus.bsky.social and Polish PEN ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/belarus...

Freedom of expression across the Middle East and North Africa deteriorated further in 2025, amid escalating conflict and violence. Find out more via our MENA region 2026 overview: www.pen-international.org/case-list-ov...

Nicaragua’s crackdown on free expression continues. Books by #GiocondaBelli & #SergioRamírez have been banned, while both writers have been stripped of nationality & forced into exile. Our statement. @giocondabelli.bsky.social @penamericas.bsky.social www.pen-international.org/news/nicarag...

If you're in #Vancouver, poet and previous New Voices Award finalist Edie Reaney Chunn is launching their chapbook at a free event in at Upstart & Crow on Tuesday May 19: www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-letter...

As we near the deadline for the 2026 New Voices Award submissions (Thursday May 7 at midnight), take a look back on the poetry and stories from last year's finalists: pencanada.ca/read-the-poe...

PEN International has published its Annual Case List, the world's longest-running record of attacks on writers 🌎 This year's report documents a troubling global pattern: spaces for expression, culture and dissent are shrinking as governments intensify efforts to silence critical expression.

These are 26 Ukrainian journalists held in Russian captivity. Behind every name is someone imprisoned for telling the truth. Pressure begins with people who refuse to forget. Share these names and demand justice, find out more ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/our-campaign...

In Belarus, prison authorities systematically confiscate and destroy the manuscripts, letters and diary entries of those imprisoned. For PEN/Opp, Maksim Znak, a lawyer, author and freed prisoner, shares his story of writing behind prison walls and the unbreakable will to create: buff.ly/16sY3Af

#Venezuela: Venezuela's Amnesty Law has been revoked, and journalist Rory Branker, denied relief even while it stood, still faces criminal charges after nearly a year in arbitrary detention. Read our statement ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/venezue...

For more than a decade, the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award has recognized excellence in emerging, yet-to-be published Canadian writers. This spring, several alumni of the award are celebrating new books, recognition from their peers, or their growing careers: pencanada.ca/news-and-boo...

In the words of our President, Burhan Sonmez, when journalists are silenced, truth is pushed into darkness. For a whole month, we're mobilising our global network to bring all detained Ukrainian journalists home. #WPFD2026 #FreeUkrainianJournalists www.pen-international.org/our-campaign...

"Free exploration of library shelves – the unruliness and personal nature of that exploration – is the essence of childhood reading...To read is to experience imaginative freedom, beyond the prescriptions of your parents and with it a soupçon of risk and shock." More from Sam Leith: buff.ly/yfGyjtU

Final week to submit for our RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award 📣 The award is open to any genre of writing, including creative nonfiction, journalism, novel and memoir excerpts, plays, short stories, and poetry collections. 📅 Deadline: Thursday May 7, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST. buff.ly/k8WAQzp

"If the Alberta government had deliberately set out to discourage reading, it would be hard to design a better strategy than banning Kaur." A report found 170 books were banned across 41 school divisions, including two by Rupi Kaur. Ira Wells says more in The Star: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

"I learned numbers before I learned the way home, or how to spell my own name. At seven, I counted images in newspapers of those executed in the weeks after Iran’s 1979 revolution. At ten, I heard the whispered statistics of more than 7,500 executed for opposing the regime in the 1980s; buried...

PEN International joins the International Press Institute and partners in strongly condemning the intensifying use of Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code – widely known as the ‘disinformation law’ – to arrest, detain, and prosecute journalists: www.pen-international.org/news/turkiye...

Jailed newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. In February he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, in a ruling condemned as politically motivated by rights groups: buff.ly/09CoykC

📣 UPDATE: An Algerian court has set June 4th as the next hearing for poet & human rights defender Mohamed Tadjadit, who faces trumped-up charges, potentially carrying the death penalty, for his expression. Read more about his case: www.pen-international.org/cases/mohame...

For more than twenty years, George Brown College has championed a PEN Writer-in-Residency, inviting an exiled writer to the College to discuss freedom of expression, human rights and the importance of democracy. Last fall, Onder Deligoz, a journalist from Turkey, was chosen as the 2025 resident.

A new report from @citizenlab.ca exposes Chinese actors using impersonation to perpetuate Digital Transnational Repression. The report identifies two actors aligned with the PRC, and illustrates a Military-Civil Fusion system of attacks carried out by private contractors: buff.ly/wM7Xsfp

In case you missed it, last year's winners of the RBC / PEN Canada New Voices Award stopped by CBC Radio to speak on the power of poetry, how they got into it and their hopes for freedom of expression in the future. Listen to their conversation: buff.ly/f90jwus

Dozens of Alberta school divisions have pulled more than 170 books from library shelves to comply with a provincial order. In preparing to justify these bans, government officials used “snippets of these books that are ripped out of context” to shock the public: theijf.org/article/41-a...

#Georgia: Imprisoned poet Zviad Ratiani is to endure harsher treatment in prison ostensibly as a punitive measure for his dissenting views. We join PEN Georgia in urging his release: civil.ge/archives/732...

Congratulations to Dilan Qadir, a member of our community, who this morning was shortlisted for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards in the short fiction category. This Writers' Trust of Canada award is judged by writers Jamaluddin Aram, Jen Neale and Nathan Whitlock: www.cbc.ca/books/9-emer...

Happening tomorrow — launch event for the PEN International Case List, the world’s longest-running record of attacks on free expression faced by #writers around the globe. 📅 Thursday April 23 🕐 9 a.m. atlantic / 8 a.m. eastern / 5 a.m. pacific 📍 Zoom 🎟️ Free: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/voices-fre...

#HongKong is attempting to seize more than $16 million from Jimmy Lai. Lai, a ⁠pro-democracy advocate and the citys most vocal China critic, was sentenced to 20 years in jail ​on counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. www.reuters.com/business/fin...

Maksym Sytnikov is the executive director of PEN Ukraine. In this interview, he talks about the org's writer fellowships and wartime cultural advocacy, including travelling to liberated and frontline regions and delivering humanitarian aid and books: vocal.media/education/ma...

Update 📣 #Egypt: Today, an Egyptian court extended the pre-trial detention of poet and activist Ahmed Douma for another 15 days in pre-trial detention. Read more about this case: www.pen-international.org/news/egypt-p...

"Human rights and refugee support isn’t about charity—it’s about justice. This work is deeply personal and deeply important." Robina Aryubwal is a women’s rights activist, living in Toronto, building a career in policy and aid. She grew up in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, spending eight years...

In America, book bans and challenges have historically come from parents or community members. But in recent years a trend has shifted sharply to government officials and activists who advocate “parental choice” in what schools and libraries make available: www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/ar...

We are one of nearly 140 centres of PEN International, which is hosting this free event on Thursday morning👇 The event marks the launch of the annual PEN Case List, tracking the numbers of persecuted and imprisoned writers around the world. Register to listen to the conversation:

After #Alberta schools removed four titles from their libraries, a local initiative donated those same titles to public libraries in Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, Mississippi Mills, Perth and Lanark. More on organizers and residents tackling #bookbans: www.insideottawavalley.com/news/lanarkc...

Librarians across #Alberta are pushing back against a proposed bill which could expand government control over public libraries. Bill 28 would amend the Libraries Act and give the provincial government greater oversight of public library operations: okotoksonline.com/articles/oko...

Canada is facing a “tsunami” of transnational and digital repression with the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S., the arrival of artificial intelligence and a softening of attitudes on human rights: www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

We are excited to announce the jury for this year's RBC / PEN Canada New Voices Award: Ann Y. K. Choi, francesca ekwuyasi, and Joshua Whitehead. Learn more about the jury, and how to submit for the New Voices Award: buff.ly/tyqdl8k 📅 The deadline to submit is Thursday May 7, 2026.

#Italy: Writer @robertosaviano.bsky.social has been cleared of defaming Matteo Salvini. While the court’s verdict reaffirms the vital importance of free expression, we must not forget the years spent fighting these baseless charges. Read the statement ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/italy-r...

Three weeks left to submit for our RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. Unpublished writers are encouraged to submit any genre of writing, including creative nonfiction, journalism, plays, short stories, and poetry collections. Deadline: Thursday May 7, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Alberta’s government asked media to edit or delete our story on Edmonton EMS overtime. We filed access to information requests and fact-checked them instead. zurl.co/R8T9Y

#Alberta: Legislation tabled last week could give the province more control over ideology and operations in schools. If passed, Bill 25 would mandate neutrality in classrooms and impose new restrictions on statements issued by school boards: medicinehatnews.com/news/local-n...

We're looking for new board members 📣 In particular, we are looking for those from Atlantic Canada, as well as those with a background in fundraising or events (residing anywhere in #Canada). The deadline to express interest in Monday April 13, 2026. Learn more: pencanada.ca/news/call-fo...

Right-wing groups and think tanks had a private audience with Alberta's premier and education minister in February to discuss education policy. Check out what our access to information documents show. zurl.co/P25Fl

PEN Canada Writers in Exile — apply this week. 💌 This free workshop, led by educator and author Patricia Westerhof, covers what scams you should look out for, how to get published in literary magazines, and how to get an agent or editor interested in your manuscript. buff.ly/2RGJHKo

Access to Information Requests have revealed that in February 2026 Alberta’s premier and education minister held a private meeting with groups behind the push to ‘conservatize’ Alberta school boards and ban LGBTQ books: theijf.org/article/albe...

The Alberta government is expanding its control of library materials 🚨 New proposed legislation would require that public libraries separate material with any graphic sexual material from the rest of the library, such as keeping those books behind a counter: www.cbc.ca/player/play/...