Shame on the British Government for failing to ensure the release of British journalist #SamiHamdi, arrested by US ICE nearly 1 week ago. As Hamdi's wife says "It’s reminiscent of South Africa during apartheid or the Soviet Union during the purges." www.thenational.scot/news/2558833...

Another Palestinian journalist murdered by Israel, and during the so-called 'ceasefire'. Since Oct '23, Israel has murdered more journalists than all those killed during all of the major wars in the 20th century. Never let impunity silence the truth. www.palestinechronicle.com/systematic-t...

British journalist #SamiHandi detained by US authorities for days without access to a judge. The British state has a duty to act when one of its citizens has been interned for exercising #freedomofexpression Why has the Foreign Office remained silent? www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

"The night Basim Khandakji’s novel won the 2024 “Arabic Booker Prize”, Israeli prison guards stormed his cell, assaulted him, bound his hands & feet, & threatened him." Exiled in Egypt after 21 years in Israeli prisons, Khandakji keeps writing #FreePalestine www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

#DaphneCaruanaGalizia was assassinated in Malta 8 years ago today. Scottish PEN supports the call by 17 press freedom & journalists' organisations for #Malta to set up a national action plan on media freedom & journalist safety. #JusticeForDaphne @peninternational.bsky.social @rsf.org

We welcome the news that two PEN International cases, Jimmy Lai and Mzia Amaglobeli, are included amongst the recipients of the 2025 World Press Freedom Hero awards by the IPI in partnership with IMS We reiterate our calls for their immediate and unconditional freedom. ipi.media/2025-world-p...

“It is a maxim in Scots law that the law cannot be absurd. To claim that Palestine Action is a terrorist organisation is plainly absurd." @craigmurrayorg.bsky.social Scottish PEN, @peninternational.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social & #WalesPENCymru oppose the proscription of Palestine Action (1)

#USA: PEN International joins PEN America in condemning the FCC’s threats to Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a dangerous escalation of government-instigated censorship.

#Mozambique: PEN International welcomes the acquittal of writer & publisher Alex Barga, freed after 9 months of unlawful detention on fabricated charges. We urge authorities to end the weaponisation of justice against civic freedoms. Read our statement ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/mozambi...

At our 91st Congress in Kraków, Centres adopted a landmark Resolution condemning the ongoing escalating attacks on freedom of expression in the United States — from book bans to threats against press freedom. Read the full resolution ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/pen-int...

We join @pressfreedom.bsky.social in condemning Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists and media workers, the deadliest attack on the press in 16 years. Journalists are civilians and must be protected under international law. We call for accountability and end to impunity. @penmena.bsky.social

#Egypt: We welcome reports that British-Egyptian writer, activist & PEN's case Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been granted a presidential pardon after 6 years unjustly imprisoned for his words. We await his release and will be monitoring the situation in the coming days. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Lizzie Eldridge, the chair of Scottish PEN’s Writers At Risk Committee, was recently interviewed by Palestine International Broadcast in her capacity as a writer and activist. The full interview is available below. youtu.be/JiNIuLvjios

Scottish PEN has issued a statement regarding the arrest of award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty and calling on the authorities to respect the legitimate right of people to protest in support of the ideal of one humanity living in peace in one world 👇 scottishpen.org/statement-on...

BREAKING: Award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty has been arrested after wearing a T-shirt reading 'Genocide in Palestine, time to take action' Police arrested the I, Daniel Blake writer in Edinburgh this morning

On 16 August, Scottish PEN presents Eman Al Haj Ali talking about her recent experiences in Gaza and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists. This event will take place in person at The Ark in Glasgow and by Zoom video. Find out more and register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/eman-al-ha...

I stand neither in the wilderness nor fairyland but in the fold of a green hill the tilt from one parish into another… —Kathleen Jamie, “The Wishing Tree” SELECTED POEMS (Picador, 2018) #BookWormSat #poem Hear “The Wishing Tree” on @thepoetryarchive.bsky.social poetryarchive.org/poem/wishing...

Happy opening day to our chums at @edbookfest.bsky.social !!! #Edinburgh is always a book lover's paradise, but August is even more special for our UNESCO City of Literature. www.edbookfest.co.uk?gad_source=1...

🚨 Haia Mohammed on @bbclondon.bsky.social nNews yesterday from Gⓐza on hoping to take up her Goldsmiths scholarship in September & the biometric visa block. 🚨 Please amplify & write your MP to encourage the govt to see sense. Letter template: bit.ly/44SLnX9

‘They used my chain to choke me’: Chris Smalls speaks out after Israeli prison assault - https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/they-used-my-chain-choke-me-chris-smalls-speaks-out-after-israeli-prison-assault-real-talk

France condemns Netanyahu's Gaza takeover plan - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/france-condemns-netanyahus-gaza-takeover-plan

Israel’s horrifying plans to take over Gaza City will lead to more death and destruction. States, like the UK and US, have enabled this escalation by transferring arms and failing to take concrete action to stop the genocidal assault on occupied Gaza.

Tove Jansson's birthday is tomorrow 🎉🥳 & @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social is celebrating with a sale on her books! www.nyrb.com/collections/...

From longtime PEN member, Luis Horacio Nájera, comes a weekly podcast on #Mexico, journalism, and life lessons learned along the way. "Dos Amigos" is available in Spotify and Apple podcasts. Give it a listen: buff.ly/9micFNG

Edinburgh - this Book Fringe chat with Mahmoud & Matthew about Gaza and Palestinian culture is Tuesday 12th, 1pm, and it is FREE, join us! (or watch online! Because yes, it'll be livestreamed like all our Book Fringe gigs!) lighthousebookshop.com/events/stori...

We need clear safeguards on facial rec. That means proper independent oversight of how it's used, and strict rules on who is placed on a police watchlist. www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/fundamental/...

A man wrongly flagged by London’s live facial recognition tech calls it “stop and search on steroids” - and he’s taking the Met Police to court. Here’s why this legal challenge could change how we’re watched in public spaces 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Writing became crucial during particularly difficult periods, allowing her to process overwhelming emotions through journaling." From Diary Marif (Kurdish journalist; PEN Writer in Exile), the story of a Vancouver artist with PTSD in search of creativity she could manage from bed: buff.ly/Phh7Xwf

⚡New resource How does it feel when a like, a comment, or a group chat can land you in jail? In #Belarus, vague anti-extremism laws are increasingly used to silence dissent. Read our analysis ⬇️ #StandWithBelarus #FreedomOfExpression www.article19.org/resources/be...

“Poetry is a way of asserting agency, even if it’s by meditating on physical destruction, even as tens of thousands have been killed.” ~ Amelia Glaser (2024) irishpages.org/product/vol-... @irishpen.bsky.social @scottishpen.bsky.social

We urge our members & friends to send this template email to your MP, urging that biometric visa requirements be deferred for Palestinian students Please share widely www.paih.org/get-involved...

👉 NEW -- 70 Questions the UK Government Must Answer About Gaza By the @declassifieduk.org team ‘Mainstream’ journalists have failed to investigate the UK’s complicity in Israel’s genocide. Here is what every minister should be asked. www.declassifieduk.org/70-questions...

The stories we tell matter. I know this not from watching but from memory. I was just a child, held behind barbed wire in a U.S. internment camp, when an atomic bomb obliterated Hiroshima—killing members of my family.

Please write to your MP and demand that the Home Office act to help these students make it out of Gaza to study in the UK this September. Time is running out to get the government to move on this; they absolutely could take action and are — so far — choosing not to.

Dirk was arrested in Parliament Square under the Terrorism Act 2000 after holding a sign which stated “I oppose genocide - I support Palestine Action”. On August 9th, over 500 people will hold this same sign in Parliament Square. Sign up at: wedonotcomply.org

CPJ is horrified by the two-year sentence given to prominent Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli. We denounce the case as disproportionate and politicized and renew our call for her release. cpj.org/2025/08/outr... #FreeMzia

SHRC: PoliceScotland may have breached human rights in policing pro-Palestine demos. Articles 10 & 11 ECHR protect the right to free expression & freedom of assembly. Arrests under the Terrorism Act "risks disproportionately restricting the right to peaceful protest".

At the Moderns today. Alasdair Gray's 'Eden and After' is always worth pausing at for a while.

If you'd like to know more about the Glasgow SF Writers' Circle and our 35+ years of critiquing Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror, there's two ways to find out. Firstly, there's our Linktree, with social media, official website and how you can trial a night at the Circle. linktr.ee/gsfwc (1/2)

#WritingCommunity! Submissions invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, #Gaelic, & #Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct! Submit free via Submittable 👇 nws.submittable.com/submit

Venezuela: PEN International calls for the release of journalists detained amid deepening crackdown  — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide www.pen-international.org/news/venezue... @penamerica.bsky.social @aliciaqui.bsky.social @germna.bsky.social

⭕ 🧵1/ On August 1, a court hearing was held at Batumi City Court in the case of detained journalist Mzia Amaglobeli.

An internal British army media report acknowledges Israel is “bombing hospitals and ambulances”. It claims Israeli troops are breaching the Geneva Convention in ways not done by Germany in World War Two. www.declassifieduk.org/israeli-atta...

Transnational repression is on the rise, including from Russia, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Governments around the world must take firm action to protect journalists, activists and communities at risk, and defend their right to freedom of expression. committees.parliament.uk/committee/93...

Mary-Ann Stephenson, a transphobic TERF, has been confirmed as the new chair of the equalities watchdog of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Human rights have been taken over by haters in the UK. www.theguardian.com/... #transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA

Congratulations to Leila Aboulela on winning the 2025 @englishpen.bsky.social Pinter Prize! In celebration, we're sharing an exclusive essay she wrote for Wasafiri, where she looks back over her career – and her history with the magazine – offering advice to emerging writers.

#Belarus: Today marks four years since PEN member and Nobel Laureate Ales Bialiatski was arrested on spurious grounds. We reiterate calls for his immediate release and share his powerful message. @penbelarus.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social pentransmissions.com/2025/05/21/p...

Come with us across London’s bookshops to search for PEN Translates books in the wild! All of our PEN Translates award-winning titles are recognisable by the ‘winner English PEN award’ roundel on their front covers. Look out for it next time you’re browsing your local bookshop!

Come with us across London’s bookshops to search for PEN Translates books in the wild – part 2! All of our PEN Translates award-winning titles are recognisable by the ‘winner English PEN award’ roundel on their front covers. Look out for it next time you’re browsing your local bookshop!

Meet the next generation speaking out for free expression. From shrinking civic space to defending democracy, PEN International’s Young Writers Committee (@youngwriterspen.bsky.social) raises their voices with urgency and hope ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/committee-ne...