Issue 8 of Kalliope X literary journal is out now - fiction, essays, poems, reviews, interviews from local and international writers. You can read the issue here: www.kalliopex.com

Australia has an opportunity to get out of AUKUS. We should take it. We ask the Albanese Government to prioritise Australia's interests and security, and to join the UK and the US Governments in undertaking an independent parliamentary inquiry into AUKUS. ✍️ Add your name: theaus.in/AUKUS_inquiry

Narges Mohammadi—the writer, human rights defender, Nobel laureate, and #FreedomToWrite Awardee—suffered a heart attack in prison, and Iranian authorities are denying her essential medical care. The #FreeNarges Coalition calls for her immediate release to receive life-saving treatment.

#China #HongKong: A Hong Kong court has overturned the 2022 fraud conviction for #JimmyLai. However, he remains imprisoned under the National Security Law. We reiterate our call for his immediate and unconditional release. Read our full update ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/china-h...

On #WorldNGODay, we celebrate NGOs advancing human rights and accountability. Their voices must be heard at the UN. We’ve signed a joint NGO letter urging ECOSOC Member States to back candidates who protect civil society access. www.pen-international.org/news/interna... #OpenTheDoors2NGOs

Federal police raided Dissent Bar in Canberra and stripped anti-fascist posters off the walls under Labor's brand new hate speech laws. Not a Nazi compound. A local café with political art. This is what biased laws look like in practice. 🧵

National Walk for Truth event: 24 March at The Wheeler Centre

At a time when writers, artists and advocates in Australia and around the world are being silenced for speaking out against oppression, PEN Melbourne is committed to the guiding principle that literature knows no frontiers.

A powerful essay by PEN International’s Tanja Tuma. In Meje v času oboroženega miru, she reflects on memory, migration, double standards in human rights, and the quiet spread of self-censorship. Read the article in Slovenian here ⬇️ www.delo.si/sobotna-pril...

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Labor is opening up an area 1/3rd the size of Tasmania to big corporations for more gas drilling, threatening critical whale habitat and will locking us into more fossil fuels. Join us in calling Labor to withdraw the Otway Basin acreage immediately: greens.org.au/otway-submis...

🚨 #Malaysia #Thailand: We welcome the recent settlement for Australian writer Murray Hunter, but his case remains a stark example of a transnational SLAPP involving civil defamation in Malaysia and criminal defamation in Thailand. Read more ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/malaysi...

I just signed this open letter to the ABC. getup.to/dop4EulCD5NFP

#HongKong: Together with @englishpen.bsky.social, we condemn the conviction of writer and media publisher #JimmyLai. We continue to stand with him and urge the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally. www.pen-international.org/news/china-h...

#Iran: PEN International condemns the violent and arbitrary arrest of Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi on 12 December. We are gravely concerned for her health and safety and call for her immediate and unconditional release. Read our statement ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/iran-au...

#HongKong: Yesterday, we have joined @englishpen.bsky.social, @hongkongwatch.bsky.social & over 30 other civil society organisations in an open letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging him press for Jimmy Lai's release. Read the letter below ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/china-h...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/ha...

Writers around the world are raising their voices for Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Together, we defend the right to write freely through amplifying the voices of those silenced. #DayoftheImprisonedWriter #RoryBranker #YalqunRozi #MohamedTadjadit #MziaAmaglobeli

TAKE ACTION: Venezuelan journalist #RoryBranker has been arbitrarily detained— silenced for seeking truth. His voice must be heard again. This #DayoftheImprisonedWriter, join us in calling for his immediate release. Sign our petition: www.pen-international.org/rory-branker...

SIGN OUR PETITION: Uyghur writer #YalqunRozi has spent 9 years behind bars in China for expressing his cultural identity. Sentenced to 15 years, his only “crime” was helping preserve the Uyghur language. You can set him free. #DayoftheImprisonedWriter

bsky.app/profile/peni...

In solidarity with you Yavuz. Best wishes from Australia bsky.app/profile/peni...

@peninternational.bsky.social @penmelbourne.bsky.social

Egypt: PEN International welcomes Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s release and urges Egyptian authorities to release imprisoned writers — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide www.pen-international.org/news/egypt-a...

emergingwritersfestival.org.au/event/writin....

#Belarus: Five years after the fraudulent 2020 elections, the crackdown on writers and cultural figures continues with impunity. PEN Belarus, PEN International & PEN America call for accountability and unwavering support for Belarusian culture.

Our Reporter Got Into Gaza. He Witnessed a Famine of Israel’s Making. theintercept.com/2025/07/21/i...

Türkiye: Writer Yavuz Ekinci on trial again as spurious terror-propaganda case resumes — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide www.pen-international.org/news/trkiye-...

#Türkiye: PEN International is deeply concerned by reports that an arrest warrant has been issued against journalist, poet, and Honorary PEN member Nedim Türfent on terror-propaganda grounds. Read more ⬇️ www.diken.com.tr/gazeteci-ned...

#Serbia: PEN members reiterate their full support for student-led protests in Serbia and urge the authorities to uphold fundamental freedoms. Read their appeal ⬇️ static1.squarespace.com/static/628f9...

Even if the Marathon is over, why not start the weekend with this long poem submitted from Greenland by Juaaka Lyberth in Kalaallisut (Greenlandic)? Qujaannarpunga Mr. Trump (No thanks, Mr Trump) www.youtube.com/watch?v=94u5...

Our 2025 case list, IDENTITY ON TRIAL: PERSECUTION AND RESISTANCE, highlights global threats to writers, including Kurdish author Yavuz Ekinci, prosecuted in Türkiye on baseless terrorism charges. Learn more about his case & others in the full case list ➡️ www.pen-international.org/identity-on-...

Alaa Abdel Fattah has been incarcerated in Egyptian prisons for almost a decade for speaking out against oppression; he represents 0000s of Egyptian political prisoners who are journalists, writers and activists jailed for exercising their right to free expression  #PardonForAlaa #AlaaAbdelFattah

Uyghur writer and academic Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 after an unfair trial on separatism charges. Learn more about his case and others in our Case List 2025 ➡️ www.pen-international.org/identity-on-... Image credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images