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PEN PRESS RELEASES: BY SUBJECT
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Following is an archive of press releases and letters issued by PEN American Center, listed by subject. See press releases sorted by date. Please contact us if you have any questions about these releases.
Advocacy: Intl. | Advocacy: U.S. | PEN World Voices Festival | PEN Literary Awards | General |
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Advocacy: International
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June 1, 2010:
Liu Xiaobo Transferred to Remote Prison in Liaoning Province
 PEN American Center has learned that prominent dissident and intellectual Liu Xiaobo has been moved from a detention center in Beijing to Jinzhou Prison in Liaoning.
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May 26, 2010:
Burmese Poet Saw Wei Released from Prison
 PEN American Center welcomed the release of imprisoned Burmese poet Saw Wei today, calling the release “long overdue.” Saw Wei was released nearly five months after he sentence expired and two and a half years after he was sent to prison for “inducing crime against public tranquility” for one of his poems.
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May 18, 2010:
Poet and Belarusian PEN President Vladimir Neklyayev Detained in Minsk
 PEN American Center denounced the coordinated series of raids on the homes and offices of a number of writers, journalists, and activists in Minsk and other cities across Belarus today.
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May 13, 2010:
PEN Condemns Sentencing of Journalist Maziar Bahari in Iran
 PEN American Center condemned the 13-year sentence handed down to Iranian-Canadian journalist and playwright Maziar Bahari in absentia on May 9, calling the action by the Tehran Revolutionary Court “an embarrassing end to a terrible year for press freedom and freedom of expression in Iran.”
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April 20, 2010:
Uighur PEN Member Ilham Tohti Barred From Travel Outside China
 For the second time this spring, the Chinese government has prevented a member of PEN, the worldwide association of writers, from participating in a public program in Europe, a move PEN American Center today denounced as “an unfortunate attempt to control critical speech inside and outside of China.”
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April 6, 2010:
Writers Press Iran to Release Jailed Colleagues
 A coalition of free expression organizations delivered a petition to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations calling on the Iranian government to release dozens of journalists, writers, and bloggers currently imprisoned in that country.
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March 1, 2010:
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 Cologne, Germany and placed under house arrest.
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February 17, 2010:
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 on freedom of expression, Frank la Rue.
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February 11, 2010:
PEN American Center Reacts to Court's Rejection of Liu Xiaobo's Appeal
 PEN American Center President Kwame Anthony Appiah has issued this statement following reports that a Beijing court rejected writer and PEN member Liu Xiaobo's appeal of his “subversion” conviction and 11-year prison sentence:
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February 11, 2010:
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 last year’s disputed presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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February 1, 2010:
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 Nobel Committee, noting Liu’s “distinguished and principled leadership in the area of human and political rights and freedom of expression.”
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January 26, 2010:
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. Meanwhile, PEN expressed outrage over reports that ICPC's web site was the target of a cyber attack over the weekend.
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January 14, 2010:
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, who was taken from his home and had his personal computers seized on Monday evening.
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January 13, 2010:
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.
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December 31, 2009:
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 the New York Public Library to protest the imprisonment of writer Liu Xiaobo in China.
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December 25, 2009:
PEN President Appiah Calls Sentencing of Liu Xiaobo a Mockery and a Scandal
 PEN American Center President Kwame Anthony Appiah issued the following statement in response to the conviction of writer and fellow PEN member Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced today by a Beijing court to 11 years in prison for his writings
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December 23, 2009:
World Awaits Verdict in Liu Xiaobo Trial
 Writer Liu Xiaobo pleaded not guilty to subversion charges in a trial that lasted less than three hours this morning in Beijing.
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December 11, 2009:
Liu Xiaobo Formally Indicted
 PEN American Center denounced the formal indictment today in Beijing of renowned literary critic and PEN member Liu Xiaobo, calling the move “extremely troubling” and urging supporters and governments around the world to step up the pressure on Beijing to free him immediately.
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December 7, 2009:
PEN Renews Calls for Liu Xiaobo’s Release
 Writers in the United States and China today renewed their appeals for the immediate and unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo, who was arrested one year ago and is facing a possible 15-year prison term, calling the continued detention of the renowned dissident writer and PEN member “a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression” that “only reinforces doubts about China’s commitment to the rule of law.”
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October 19, 2009:
Writers Welcome Release of Maziar Bahari from Prison in Iran
 Canadian-Iranian journalist and playwright Maziar Bahari was released from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on bail Saturday after spending nearly four months virtually incommunicado.
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September 10, 2009:
Writers Freed in Afghanistan, China
 PEN welcomes the release of journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, who had originally been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Afghanistan, and Ilham Tohti, a member of the Uighur PEN Center who was detained in Beijing during the unrest in Xinjiang Province.
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August 18, 2009:
PEN American Center Protests Conviction of Guatemalan Publisher
 PEN American Center today issued a letter to Guatemalan authorities protesting the conviction against Raúl Figueroa Sarti, owner of the publishing house F & G Editores, on “spurious charges” of copyright infringement.
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July 16, 2009:
100 International Writers Call for Release of Journalist Maziar Bahari in Iran
 PEN American Center and PEN Canada today sent an open letter signed by over 100 of the world’s most prominent writers calling for the release of Canadian-Iranian journalist and playwright Maziar Bahari, who has been held incommunicado in Tehran since June 21, 2009.
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July 15, 2009:
PEN American Center Condemns Murder of Natalia Estemirova
 PEN American Center today expressed outrage over the murder of journalist and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, who was found dead today in the Russian republic of Ingushetia.
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June 24, 2009:
Writers Condemn Formal Arrest of Chinese Colleague Liu Xiaobo
 After spending more than six months in detention without charge or trial, prominent writer and literary critic Liu Xiaobo was formally arrested in Beijing on June 23 and charged with “inciting subversion of state power.”
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June 16, 2009:
More than Six Months on, Liu Xiaobo Remains in Detention
 PEN American Center protested the continued detention of prominent writer Liu Xiaobo today with a letter to Chinese authorities, citing the clear violation of international and Chinese law.
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May 3, 2009:
On World Press Freedom Day, PEN Launches Americas Campaign
 PEN American Center is marking World Press Freedom Day today by launching the “Freedom to Write in the Americas” campaign which will run through the rest of 2009, and by releasing the “Declaration in Defense of the Freedom to Write in the Americas.”
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March 31, 2009:
Beijing Writer, PEN VP Jiang Qisheng Detained for Charter 08
 Independent Chinese PEN Center Vice President Dr. Jiang Qisheng was detained and interrogated by police in Beijing today in what PEN American Center and the Independent Chinese PEN Center believe is a “campaign of intimidation against Charter 08 activists” in advance of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
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February 21, 2009:
Writers Decry Detentions During Clinton Visit to China
 Writers reacted angrily to reports that members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center and other leading Chinese intellectuals have been confined to their homes or had their movements and activities restricted in connection with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Beijing this weekend.
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February 17, 2009:
Writer Tohti Tunyaz Released From Prison in China a Week Before Clinton Visit
 PEN American Center expressed relief today at the news that imprisoned writer, historian, and winner of the 2002 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, Tohti Tunyaz, was released from prison in China last week after serving an 11-year sentence for “stealing state secrets” and “inciting national disunity.”
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January 20, 2009:
World Authors Call on Chinese Authorities to Release Liu Xiaobo
 Over 300 members of International PEN, the world writers’ association, have joined together to protest the ongoing detention of prominent Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo
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December 9, 2008:
Leading PEN Member Liu Xiaobo Detained in China on Eve of Human Rights Day
 PEN American Center expressed extreme dismay today over the detention of prominent dissident and leading PEN Member Dr. Liu Xiaobo on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” a criminal charge that could result in a lengthy prison term.
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November 15, 2008:
Day of the Imprisoned Writer
 Every year on November 15, PEN marks the Day of the Imprisoned Writer to honor the courage of all writers who stand up against repression and defend the principle of freedom of expression and the right to information.
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October 22, 2008:
74th International PEN Congress Calls for Cultural Rights, Free Expression
 International PEN urges worldwide protection of cultures and indigenous languages, and a review of UN resolutions on religious defamation during its 74th Congress in Bogotá, Colombia.
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October 17, 2008:
PEN: Signs “Discouraging” for Post-Olympics Human Rights Improvements in China
 As the temporary regulations for foreign journalists working in the People’s Republic of China expire today, PEN issued a report highlighting the vulnerable position writers and journalists are in two months after an Olympics that was supposed to usher in greater freedoms and human rights in China.
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September 24, 2008:
Writers Commemorate Burmese Uprisings, Rally for Jailed Colleagues
 Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, Kiran Desai, Siri Hustvedt, Joseph Lelyveld, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and George Packer shared the stage of the Great Hall of Cooper Union last night with the Venerable U Gawsita, one of the leaders of last year’s “Saffron Revolution,” and more than a dozen other monks as PEN American Center paid tribute to the thousands of writers, monks, and ordinary Burmese citizens who have risked their lives to further freedom of expression in Burma.
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August 8, 2008:
PEN Gives Voice to Silenced Writers in China on Eve of the Olympics
 On August 7, 2008, celebrated PEN Members gathered to read banned and censored work by writers in China, including new and never-before translated writings by Tsering Woeser, Yang Tongyan, and other leading dissident writers and testimonials and letters from jailed writers and their families.
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July 30, 2008:
PEN Protests Censorship at Olympic Press Facilities
 The International Olympic Committee apparently agreed to allow the Chinese government to censor the Internet at the Olympic Village press center in Beijing.
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July 21, 2008:
Chinese Writer Du Daobin Re-Arrested as Crackdown Continues
 Less than three weeks before the Olympic Games open in Beijing, Chinese authorities have re-arrested writer, former political prisoner, and PEN member Du Daobin and filed formal charges against writer and human rights activist Huang Qi.
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July 8, 2008:
China Fails to Deliver: An Olympic-Year Report Card on Free Expression from PEN
 PEN gives China a failing grade on free expression one month before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games on August 8, 2008.
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July 2, 2008:
Chinese Journalist Sentenced, Others Prevented From Meeting U.S. Officials
 PEN centers expressed disappointment today over the sentencing of journalist Sun Lin in Nanjing and the detention and harassment of several writers and PEN members to prevent them from meeting visiting U.S. Congressmen this week in Beijing.
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June 19, 2008:
PEN, Publishers Decry Conviction of Ragip Zarakolu in Turkey
 PEN American Center and the International Freedom to Publish Committee of the Association of American Publishers today denounced the “clearly wrongful” and “anachronistic and discouraging” conviction of Turkish publisher Ragip Zarakolu.
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June 13, 2008:
Detentions Escalate at China Quake Site
 PEN expressed alarm over the disappearance of leading cyber-dissident Huang Qi, who was last seen being forced into a car by three unidentified men in Chengdu on the evening of June 10.
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June 6, 2008:
No Let-Up: China Detains Another Writer
 Feng Zhenghu, a Shanghai-based rights defender, online writer and freelance journalist, has been detained in a week that has seen significant backsliding in the climate for freedom of expression in China.
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May 30, 2008:
Normando Hernández González Removed from Hospital, Returned to Prison
 Writer and independent journalist Normando Hernández González has been removed from a hospital where he was receiving essential medical treatments and returned to Kilo 7 Prison in Camagüey, Cuba, where he is reportedly now being held in complete isolation in life-threatening conditions.
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May 28, 2008:
PEN Protests Cyber-Attacks Against Woeser
 Beijing-based Tibetan writer Woeser is apparently the target of serious cyber-attacks aimed at disrupting her personal communications and suppressing her voice.
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May 22, 2008:
Chinese Writer and Professor Guo Quan Detained
 Guo Quan, a writer and former associate professor of literature at Nanjing Normal University, has been detained for his articles on the government response to the May 12th earthquake in Sichuan Province and may face subversion charges.
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May 12, 2008
Chen Daojun Detained as Crackdown Intensifies in China During Olympic Torch Relay
 Chen Daojun, a freelance writer and journalist, has been detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” the second writer jailed on subversion charges in a week in what PEN is calling “an intensified effort to silence dissent” as the Olympic Games approach.
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May 6, 2008:
Chinese Authorities Detain Writer Zhou Yuanzhi
 Zhou Yuanzhi, a writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, has been detained in connection with his writings and could face trial for inciting subversion.
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April 30, 2008:
PEN Writer and Chinese Citizen Yu Zhang Denied Entry to Hong Kong
 101 days before the Olympics, Hong Kong officials refused to allow distinguished Chinese journalist Dr. Yu Zhang, Secretary-General of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, into the country, where he was invited to chair a session at a World Press Freedom Day Conference.
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April 24, 2008:
PEN Calls Press Conference to Announce Delivery of China Petition
 Salman Rushdie, Francine Prose, Edward Albee, Rick Moody and Ma Jian will be among the writers attending a press conference Thursday, May 1, at which PEN will announce the delivery later that morning of a petition to the Chinese Mission to the United Nations.
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April 18, 2008:
PEN Denounces Detention of Jamyang Kyi
 Jamyang Kyi, a prominent Tibetan writer, reporter, activist and singer, has been detained in Qinghai Province, raising the number of writers imprisoned in China to 39.
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April 10, 2008:
Zhu Yufu Receives Tougher Sentence After Re-Trial
 Nine months after trying and sentencing internet writer and activist Zhu Yufu to two years in prison for “obstructing the police from carrying out their public duty,” a Chinese court has re-tried the dissident and added two years, four months and 26 days’ deprivation of political rights after release to his original sentence. >> More
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April 3, 2008:
Hu Jia Sentenced to 3 1/2 Years for “Inciting Subversion”
 Leading Chinese human rights, environmental, and AIDS activist Hu Jia was today sentenced to three and a half years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” A freelance journalist and blogger, Hu was tried in a four-hour proceeding on March 18, 2008 in the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. >> More
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March 18, 2008:
On Fifth Anniversary of Cuba's Black Spring, 28 Writers Still Imprisoned
 Five years after Cuba jailed 75 prominent dissidents in what has been called that country’s “Black Spring,” PEN American Center today appealed for the release of 28 imprisoned writers, journalists and librarians, saying Cuba’s decision to sign key human rights treaties last month should quickly be matched by tangible human rights improvements. >> More
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March 18, 2008:
Trial Reinforces Fears Hu Jia Is Being Silenced for His Writings
 PEN American Center today called reports of the trial of prominent activist and writer Hu Jia “extremely troubling and discouraging,” saying the proceedings apparently did nothing but underscore the fact that Hu is being prosecuted for his writings and public statements in clear violation of Chinese and international law. >> More
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March 17, 2008:
PEN to China: Let Free Press Tell True Story in Tibet
 Writers from Canada, the United States, and China joined today in denouncing
“suffocating restrictions” on the press and on the flow of information
from Tibet, where a week of protests and repression has reportedly
resulted in as many as 100 deaths in Lhasa and other Tibetan cities. >> More
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March 11, 2008:
Charges Against Turkmen Writer Dropped
 After having spent the large majority of the past two years in exile, novelist, historian, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent and 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award winner Rakhim Esenov has been allowed to return home to Turkmenistan. >> More
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March 8, 2008:
International Women's Day: Women Writing Under Surveillance in China
 International PEN is marking International Women’s Day on March 8 by celebrating the work of three women writers under threat in China: Zeng Jinyan, Tsering Woeser and Li Jianhong. [More]
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February 8, 2008: Yu Huafeng Released from Prison in China
 PEN American Center welcomes the early release of Yu Huafeng, Deputy Editor-in-chief and general manager of the Guangzhou-based daily Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolis News). Yu, who was arrested January 14, 2004 for alleged financial irregularities, was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison. >> More
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February 5, 2008: Two Releases, One Conviction, One Indefinite Detention
 PEN today welcomed the release on parole of Hong Kong-based journalist Ching Cheong from prison in Gangzhou, southern China, where he was serving a five-year sentence for espionage. The Singapore Straits Times reporter’s release, two years before his sentence was due to expire, was the second within the past week.
>> More
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January 28, 2008:
Pamuk Prosecutor Arrested, Charged in Plot
 Kemal Kerincsiz, the lawyer who tried to prosecute Orhan Pamuk, Hrant Dink, Elif Shafak, and several other writers for “insulting Turkishness,” has been arrested with 32 others following an investigation into a weapons cache discovered in Istanbul last year. >> More
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January 18, 2008:
PEN Marks First Anniversary of Murder of Armenian-Turkish Journalist
 PEN is supporting the “Hrant Için, Adalet Için” (For Hrant, For Justice) campaign organized by a consortium of Turkish organizations staging events in Istanbul in commemoration of Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish journalist who was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. >> More
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January 16, 2008:
PEN Concerned About Terms of Release of Cyber-Dissident in China
 After one month in detention, Chinese internet writer and dissident Wang Dejia (pen name Jing Chu) was released on January 12, 2008 after agreeing not to write anything political for one year.
>> More
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January 3, 2008:
Activist Hu Jia Arrested in China: Number of Jailed Writers Rises to 42
 The arrest last week of high-profile activist and blogger Hu Jia in Beijing is raising concerns that the Chinese government may be ratcheting up its efforts to control internal dissent in the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. >> More
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December 21, 2007:
Chinese Police Preventing Prominent Chinese Writers from Meeting in Beijing
Chinese police have detained two writers and issued warnings and posted guards outside the homes of dozens of others to prevent the Independent Chinese PEN Center from holding an informal awards dinner tomorrow night in Beijing. >> More
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December 20, 2007:
PEN Condemns New Detention of Cyber-Dissident in China
PEN Condemns New Detention of Cyber-Dissident in China: 231 Days Before the Olympics, Number of Jailed Writers Rises to 41. >> More
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December 10, 2007:
Writers Demand Release of Jailed Colleagues Before Beijing Olympics
World-renowned writers from China and North America marked International Human Rights Day today by launching 40:242 – We are Ready For Freedom of Expression, a campaign that challenges the Chinese government to release all of the writers and journalists it is holding in prisons before the August 8, 2008 opening of the Olympic Games. >> More
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November 15, 2007:
Day of the Imprisoned Writer
Each year, PEN monitors around 1,000 attacks against writers, journalists, poets, publishers, and editors worldwide. These threats range from persistent harassment to prison sentences and killings. The past year has been no different, with hundreds of writers and journalists detained, and over 40 killed in the practice of their professions.>> More
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October 29, 2007:
China Releases Tibetan Monk from Prison After 18 Years
PEN American Center today hailed the release of Ven. Ngawang Phulchung, a senior monk of Drepung Monastery in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa who was jailed in 1989 for publishing literature critical of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
>> More
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October 24, 2007 | Bloomberg | Abused Cuban Journalist, Spirit Strong, Worsening in Hospital
Imprisoned Cuban journalist Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, hospitalized last month, faces medical procedures today that family members said could further imperil his already fragile health. >> More
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October 12, 2007:
China Cracks Down on Media on Eve of Party Congress
PEN American Center today expressed alarm over tightening controls on the media in advance of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which opens Monday in Beijing. >> More
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September 21, 2007:
Iran Frees Scholar Kian Tajbakhsh
PEN American Center welcomed the release of Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner who was arrested at his home in Tehran on or about May 11, 2007, and held in Evin prison. >> More
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August 21, 2007:
PEN Welcomes Release of Haleh Esfandiari in Iran; Awaits News of Kian Tajbakhsh
PEN American Center welcomed today’s release on bail of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East program for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and also a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen. >> More
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July 26, 2007:
PEN Hails Release of Tunisian Writer Who Denounced Torture
PEN American Center hailed the release this week of Mohammed Abbou, an Internet writer, lawyer, and human rights activist who was arrested on March 1, 2005, for an article published on the Internet nine months earlier that denounced torture in Tunisia. >> More
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June 22, 2007:
PEN Honorary Member Nguyen Vu Binh Released in Vietnam
PEN welcomes the early release on June 9, 2007 of Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Vu Binh. >> More
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May 25, 2007:
PEN Condemns New Arrests in Iran
PEN American Center has expressed alarm over the arrests of two prominent international scholars in Tehran. >> More
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March 8, 2007:
International Women’s Day
Over 60 women writers and journalists have come under attack for the practice of their right to freedom of expression in the past year. On March 8, 2007, International Women’s Day, PEN commemorates those women who have come under attack for the practice of their professions. >> More
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January 19, 2007:
PEN Alarmed by Murder of Armenian-Turkish Journalist
PEN is appalled by the news of the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist and PEN Honorary Member Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul on January 19. >> More
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November 28, 2006:
Call for a repeal of Article 301 in Turkey
To ensure that PEN’s concerns are heard at this stage of the debate, International PEN issued a joint statement with Article 19 and the International Publisher’s Association calling for the repeal of Article 301. >> More
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November 15, 2006:
Day of the Imprisoned Writer
PEN marks the the 26th Writers in Prison Day with a campaign in defense of nearly 100 writers and journalists around the world who are in prison or facing custodial sentences for alleged defamation or "insult." >> More
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October 13, 2006:
PEN alarmed at recent crackdown on writers in China
Three writers, Zhang Jianhong, Yang Maodong, and Chen Shuqing, all members of Independent Chinese PEN center (ICPC), have been detained in recent weeks. >> More
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October 7, 2006:
PEN Statement on the Murder of Anna Politkovskaya in Russia
PEN is appalled by the news of the murder of renowned Russian journalist and author Anna Politkovskaya, who was found shot dead in an elevator in her apartment building in Moscow. >> More
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September 21, 2006:
Author Elif Shafak acquitted in Turkey
Shafak was acquitted of charges at a hearing held in the Beyoglu Court of First Instance in Istanbul, bringing to a close one of the most prominent cases in a surge of legal proceedings against literary figures in Turkey. >> More
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August 30, 2006:
PEN Welcomes Release of Ramin Jahanbegloo in Iran
PEN welcomed today’s release of Ramin Jahanbegloo, an Iranian writer and intellectual who was arrested at Tehran airport on April 27, 2006. >> More
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July 24, 2006:
Akbar Ganji on Writing and Freedom of Expression in Iran
PEN welcomed Akbar Ganji, one of Iran's most prominent champions of human rights and freedom of expression, to New York City today to discuss writing, free expression, and recent developments in Iran. >> More
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Turkey Background Briefing: July 2006
Sometime in the next several months, Elif Shafak will appear before an Istanbul court on charges of “insulting Turkishness.” She will be the third prominent novelist to be hauled into court in Turkey in just over a year. >> More
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June 14, 2006:
PEN Welcomes Release of Algerian Newspaper Publisher, Mohammed Benchicou
Benchicou, who received one of two 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards, was released this morning from El-Harrach Prison in Algiers. >> More
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May 27, 2006:
PEN Congress reasserts the role of literature in a world without peace
Horst Köhler, Federal President of Germany, welcomed more than 450 writers from PEN Centres around the world to Berlin at the opening ceremony of International PEN’s annual Congress. >> More
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May 3, 2006:
World Press Freedom Day
A free media helps to promote transparency and accountability in governance which are central to countering the corruption that is prevalent in so many countries around the
world. >> More
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April 17, 2006:
Turkmen Writer Defeats Travel Ban, Arrives in United States to Receive PEN Prize
Capping a week of high diplomatic drama, prominent Turkmen novelist and dissident Rakhim Esenov boarded a plane last night in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to travel to the United States. >> More
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April 14, 2006:
Turkmen Authorities Threatening to Prevent Writer from Accepting PEN Prize
PEN is protesting an attempt by the government of Turkeminstan to prevent prominent novelist and dissident Rakhim Esenov from traveling to New York to receive a 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. >> More
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April 4, 2006:
PEN expresses alarm over detention of Gambian independent paper editor & manager
We are writing to express our alarm over the continued detention of Musa Saidykhan and Madi Ceesay, who have now been in custody for one week without being informed of the reasons. >> More
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March 29, 2006:
Russian PEN at risk
PEN is deeply concerned about recent charges brought against Russian PEN that could force the center to close. >> More
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March 8, 2006:
International Women's Day
To mark International Women's Day on March 8, International PEN Writers in Prison Committee is focusing on the case of the Mexican writer and journalist Lydia Cacho. >> More
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March 4, 2006:
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee meets in Istanbul
At meetings focusing on PEN's global program, the members planned the launch of a campaign against insult and criminal defamation laws under which writers and journalists are imprisoned worldwide, including Article 301 in Turkey. >> More
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February 7, 2006:
PEN Protests Action Against Russian PEN Center
PEN American Center expressed alarm today that a Russian court has frozen all assets of the Russian PEN Center under allegations that the organization failed to pay land tax. >> More
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January 23, 2006:
PEN, Rushdie: Extend Pamuk Victory to Other Turkish Writers
PEN welcomed the news today that Turkish prosecutors will not proceed with a court case against novelist Orhan Pamuk, but cautioned that more than a dozen other writers and publishers are still being prosecuted under the same insult law. >> More
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December 16, 2005:
PEN denounces postponement in Orhan Pamuk trial
PEN decried the suspension of trial proceedings against Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, calling the delay another way to prolong pressure on Pamuk and dozens of other writers and publishers currently being prosecuted in Turkey. >> More
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Nov. 10, 2005:
Tenth anniversary of the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa
Writers around the world in International PEN are commemorating today the life and death of Nigerian writer Ken Saro Wiwa, who was executed ten years ago on November 10, 1995. >> More
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November 9, 2005:
Statement on sentencing of International PEN Vice President Predrag Matvejevic
The Writers in Prison Committee condemns the use of criminal defamation laws that led to the conviction of its vice president, Croatian writer Predrag Matvejevic. >> More
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October 11, 2005:
PEN Launches Mexico Campaign
As agreed at the 71st International PEN Congress held in Bled in June 2005, the PEN Writers in Prison Committee is staging a campaign in October focusing on freedom of expression issues in Mexico.>> More
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September 2, 2005:
PEN Protests Charges Against Turkish Author Orhan Pamuk
PEN expressed shock today that world-famous Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk will be brought before an Istanbul court on December 16 and that he faces up to three years in prison for a comment published in a Swiss newspaper earlier this year. >> More
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August 8, 2005:
PEN Hails Release of Saudi Reformers
PEN hailed the release today of Ali Al-Domaini, a leading Saudi literary figure who was one of three prominent intellectuals imprisoned for criticizing the pace and reach of human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia. >> More
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July 25, 2005:
Writers condemn sentences against Saudi reformers, call for increased pressure
PEN expressed deep disappointment that an appeals court has upheld the harsh jail sentences against Saudi poet Ali Al-Domaini and two other reformists accused of petitioning for a constitutional monarchy in the conservative Muslim kingdom. >> More
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June 3, 2005:
PEN Calls for the Permanent Release from Prison of Journalist Akbar Ganji
Now that Ganji has been released from Evin Prison, we urge that his freedom from incarceration be made permanent and that he not be returned to prison next week. >> More
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May 16, 2005:
International PEN statement on the recent events in Uzbekistan
International PEN is alarmed by recent days' events in Uzbekistan and calls for a lifting of the clamp down on the media reporting from cities affected by unrest, and urges that there be no further killings. >> More
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May 15, 2005:
Writers Condemn Conviction of Poet, Two Other Reform Advocates In Saudi Arabia
PEN reacted with shock to the announcement that Saudi poet Ali Al-Domaini has been sentenced to nine years in prison for criticizing the pace of political reforms in Saudi Arabia. >> More
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May 6, 2005:
Verdict Imminent In Trial Testing Saudi Tolerance For Reform
PEN joined Saudi and international human rights groups in calling for the unconditional release of the reformers, calling the proceedings a key test of whether Saudi citizens will have a voice in shaping their country's political future. >> More
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May 3, 2005:
World Press Freedom Day
To mark this year's May 3rd World Press Freedom Day, PEN is focusing on three cases of attacks on writers and journalists who use the Internet. >> More
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April 28, 2005:
PEN Centers join campaign to end murder of Mexican journalists
PEN Canada, PEN Québec, PEN American Center, and Danish PEN have joined forces with PEN Mexico and other Mexican media and free expression organizations, converging under the banner of Ni Uno Más (Not One More). >> More
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March 8, 2005:
International Women's Day
This year PEN is focusing on three women under attack for using the Internet to disseminate information and ideas. >> More
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January 5, 2005:
Freedom to Write Award recipient Aung Myint released in Myanmar
PEN welcomed reports that poet and journalist Aung Myint and three other journalists were among more than 50 political prisoners released in Myanmar on January 3. >> More
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December 14, 2004:
PEN Condemns Detention of Chinese Writers
PEN expressed alarm that Chinese authorities detained three prominent intellectuals yesterday, including two writers who helped found a new PEN Center to promote the free exchange of literature and ideas in China. >> More
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December 10, 2004:
PEN Welcomes Release of Two Cuban Journalists
PEN welcomes the release of journalists Edel José García Díaz and Jorge Olivera Castillo on health grounds. However, PEN remains concerned that they have only been freed on parole and that they could both still be returned to prison. >> More
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December 2, 2004:
Raúl Rivero Castañeda and Oscar Espinosa Chepe released on health grounds
PEN welcomes the release of Raúl Rivero Castañeda and Oscar Espinosa Chepe, reportedly on health grounds. However, PEN remains concerned that they have only been released on parole and that they could both still be returned to prison. >> More
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July 20, 2004:
PEN and CPJ protest U.S. decision to revoke Cuban journalist's visa
We express our shock and extreme concern that the U.S. State Department recently revoked Cuban independent journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padrón's refugee visa, just over one month before he was scheduled to travel to the United States. >> More
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July 19, 2004:
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee Cuba Campaign
Thirty-two writers, journalists, and librarians were sentenced during one-day trials held in early April 2003 under laws governing the protection of the Cuban state. >> More
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June 18, 2004:
PEN welcomes release of Vietnamese Internet dissident Lê Chi Quang
PEN hailed the releaseof Lê Chi Quang, an Internet activist whose critical essays about the Vietnamese government earned him a four-year prison term followed by three years of house arrest. >> More
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May 21, 2004:
Fifth biennial conference of Writers in Prison Committee
Delegates attending the conference recognised that these are dark days for the right to freedom of expression, but reaffirmed their belief that the role of the writer is more important than ever.
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April 14, 2004:
Vaclav Havel and Nobel laureates call For release of imprisoned Burmese writers
Nobel laureates are joining Vaclav Havel to urge Senior General Than Shwe of the Burmese Military Junta to immediately release Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other Burmese writers. >> More
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April 13, 2004:
Letter demands release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other writers
We are profoundly disturbed by the open, unchecked, and accelerating suppression of the internationally acclaimed peaceful movement for democracy in the Union of Myanmar. >> More
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December 4, 2003:
International PEN´s Mexico City Congress condemns attacks on writers worldwide
Attacks on writers and journalists around the world was central to the discussions at PEN´s 69th International Congress, held in Mexico City in November. >> More
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November 19, 2003:
PEN hails releases of Tunisian e-zine writer and Cuban journalist
PEN hailed the release of Zouhair Yahyaoui, an Internet activist whose popular electronic magazine earned him a two-year prison term in Tunisia. >> More
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September 25, 2003:
PEN sounds alarm over court appearance of Uzbek activist
PEN is expressing serious alarm over reports that Uzbek journalist and human rights activist Ruslan Sharipov appeared at an appeal hearing today with suspicious facial injuries. >> More
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April 9, 2003:
PEN to present impunity cases at UNESCO Press Freedom Day observance
International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee will press the case of an Iranian writer and lawyer jailed for his crusade to win justice for the families of murdered writers in Iran. >> More
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January 23, 2003:
Grigory Pasko Released
Grigory Pasko, a journalist imprisoned in December 2001, was freed today, following a parole hearing. >> More
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Dec. 10, 2002:
PEN announces year-long freedom of expression and impunity campaign
The campaign includes direct actions throughout the year and will culminate with the release of a PEN report on the problem of impunity and a series of public programs during International PEN's 69th World Congress. >> More
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June 25, 2002:
Risking retribution, Iranian lawyer pleads for jailed husband's release
PEN issued an urgent appeal for the release of four prominent writers and translators imprisoned in Iran. >> More
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February 7, 2002:
PEN applauds release of Mexican general
Writers throughout North America hailed the release of a Mexican general jailed for more than eight years for essays advocating human rights reforms for the armed forces in Mexico. >> More
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January 3, 2002:
PEN American Center deplores sentencing of Russian military journalist
PEN expressed deep disappointment over the news that Grigory Pasko, the Russian military journalist who has been on trial for reporting on the dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian Navy, has been sentenced to serve an additional two years and four months in prison. >> More
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November 16, 2001:
PEN seeks quick action by Fox administration following IACHR ultimatum
PEN called on President Vicente Fox to comply with the two-day deadline the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has issued for the release of José Francisco Gallardo Rodríguez. >> More
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October 11, 2001:
PEN American Center protests prison transfer for Iranian translator
PEN expressed deep concern over the news that Khalil Rostamkhani, an Iranian translator sentenced to 8 years in prison, has been transferred to Bandar Abbas prison in southern Iran. >> More
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April 5, 2001:
Iranian publisher, Uzbek novelist to receive 2001 Freedom to Write Awards
PEN named Shahla Lahiji, a publisher prosecuted for participating in a conference in Berlin last year, and Mamadali Mahmudov, a renowned novelist and opposition activist serving a 14-year prison term in Uzbekistan, as recipients of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. >> More
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PEN World Voices Festival
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September 14, 2006
PEN announces new Festival director after worldwide search
PEN announced today that Caro Llewellyn of Australia had been appointed Director of PEN World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature. >> More
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PEN Literary Awards
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May 20, 2011:
PEN Announces Barbara Kingsolver Partnership for Socially Engaged Fiction Prize
 PEN announced that it will assume administration of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, Founded by Barbara Kingsolver. The Bellwether Prize was created to promote fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships.
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May 17, 2011:
PEN/Steven Kroll Award to Honor Author of an Illustrated Children's Book
 PEN American Center announced today the establishment of the PEN/Steven Kroll Award Honoring the Author of an Illustrated Children’s Book. The prize was established in memory of Steven Kroll to acknowledge the distinct literary contributions of picture book writers.
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April 21, 2011:
PEN American Center Announces New Emerging Writers Awards
 PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s oldest literary and human rights organization, announced today the creation of the PEN Emerging Writers Awards, established to promote talented up-and-coming authors whose writing has been featured in distinguished literary journals across the country, but who have yet to publish book-length works.
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December 15, 2010:
PEN American Center Announces PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award
 PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s oldest literary and human rights organization, announced today the creation of the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing, established to recognize writers whose body of work demonstrates distinctive literary character and leadership in the field.
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November 1, 2010:
PEN Revives $5,000 Essay Award
 PEN American Center announced today that the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, first created in 1991 and on hiatus since 2005, has been revived, with the next award to be given in 2011.
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October 14, 2010:
Harrison Ford and E.O. Wilson Join With PEN to Create New Literary Award
 PEN American Center announced today that acclaimed naturalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Edward O. Wilson and actor and conservationist Harrison Ford have joined with PEN to create the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing.
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October 8, 2010: Susan Choi Wins Inaugural PEN/W.G. Sebald Award for a Fiction Writer in Mid-Career
PEN American Center, the nation’s preeminent association of writers, editors, and translators, has announced Susan Choi as the recipient of the PEN/W.G. Sebald Award, a new annual award recognizing a fiction writer in mid-career.
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April 28, 2010:
Imprisoned Burmese Blogger Nay Phone Latt Honored in New York
 Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Bill Moyers, Walter Mosley, and Patti Smith were among the more than 500 PEN luminaries and supporters joining PEN American Center last night in honoring Nay Phone Latt, one of Burma’s leading bloggers, with the 2010 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award at its annual Literary Gala at the Museum of Natural History in New York.
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April 14, 2010:
Imprisoned Burmese Blogger Nay Phone Latt to Receive Top PEN Honor
 PEN American Center today named Nay Phone Latt, one of Burma’s leading bloggers, as the recipient of its 2010 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Nay Phone Latt, who is also a poet, was arrested on January 29, 2008, following the monks’ protests in Rangoon and elsewhere in the country, and is serving a 12-year sentence for distributing news and views via his blog.
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April 29, 2009:
Prominent Writer Liu Xiaobo Honored in New York
 On a night that held the spotlight on China’s human rights record, PEN American Center on Tuesday honored Liu Xiaobo with the 2009 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
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April 16, 2009:
Liu Xiaobo to Receive Top PEN Honor
 PEN American Center today named Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s preeminent dissident writers and activists and a leading figure in the PEN movement internationally as the recipient of its 2009 PEN/BarbaraGoldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
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April 11, 2008:
Yang Tongyan to Receive 2008 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award
 PEN American Center today named Chinese dissident writer Yang Tongyan, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence, as recipient of its 2008 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. >> More
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April 11, 2008:
V.A. Nurse to Receive 2008 PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award
 PEN American Center has named Laura Berg, a Veterans Administration nurse who faced a sedition investigation after writing a letter to the editor of her local paper criticizing the Bush Administration’s handling of the disaster and the Iraq War, as the recipient of this year’s prestigious PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award.
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November 12, 2007:
Announcing $10,000 Award for First Amendment Defender
PEN American Center and the Katherine Anne Porter Foundation today unveiled a new $10,000 prize for ordinary people who take extraordinary stands to defend the First Amendment in the United States.>> More
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April 10, 2007:
Jailed Cuban Journalist to Receive PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award
PEN named Normando Hernández González, a Cuban writer and journalist who was arrested along with 74 other journalists and democracy and human rights activists in a March 2003 crackdown, as recipient of its 2007 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. >> More
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April 2, 2007:
Philip Roth Wins Inaugural PEN/Saul Bellow Award
Novelist Philip Roth will be the first recipient of a major new literary prize, the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. With a stipend of $40,000, the Award is the largest of PEN’s literary prizes and will be conferred biennially. >> More
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October 3, 2006:
Announcing the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction
This biennial prize will go to the author of a distinguished book of general nonfiction. >> More
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March 29, 2006:
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award Winners
PEN named Mohammed Benchicou and Rakhim Esenov as recipients of its 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. >> More
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March 29, 2006:
2006 PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award
PEN has named Sibel Edmonds, a translator who was fired from her job at the FBI after complaining of intelligence failures and poor performance in her unit, as the recipient of this year’s prestigious PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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March 28, 2006:
Egyptian Publisher to Receive Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award
Egyptian publisher Mohamed Hashem, whose commitment to publishing works of critical thinking has brought him into conflict with civil and religious authorities, will receive this year’s Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award. >> More
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April 4, 2005:
Turkish Publisher to Receive Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award
Abdullah Keskin, the courageous publisher of Avesta, has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award. >> More
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April 4, 2005:
Librarian Who Fought FBI Search to Receive 2005 PEN/Newman’s Own Award
PEN named Joan Airoldi, a librarian and library director in rural Washington State who challenged an FBI effort to search patron records, as the recipient of this year’s prestigious PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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April 4, 2005:
Jailed Saudi author, murdered Gambian publisher to receive 2005 PEN Award
PEN named Ali Al-Domaini, one of three prominent intellectuals currently imprisoned for criticizing the pace and reach of human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia, and Deyda Hydara, a newspaper publisher and press freedom champion, as recipients of its 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. >> More
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April 5, 2004:
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award Recipients Announced
Nasser Zarafshan, a writer serving a five-year prison term in Iran, and Le Chi Quang, whose essays about the Vietnamese government earned him a four-year prison term, have reeceived the 2004 Awards. >> More
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April 2, 2003:
Texas librarian to receive PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
PEN named Jerilynn Adams Williams, a Texas librarian who successfully turned back an attempt to remove books from circulation at Montgomery County public libraries, as the recipient of this year's PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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April 2, 2003:
Cuban Journalist, Tunisian Writer to Receive PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Awards
PEN named Bernardo Arévalo Padrón, an independent journalist serving a six-year prison term, and Zouhair Yahyaoui, a Tunisian Internet activist whose electronic magazine earned him a two-year prison term, as recipients of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. >> More
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April 11, 2002:
Vanessa Leggett to receive 2002 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
PEN named Vanessa Leggett, the freelance writer who was jailed in a federal detention center in Texas for 168 days for refusing to bow to a sweeping subpoena of confidential source materials, as the recipient of this year's PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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April 11, 2002:
Burmese poet, Uighur historian to receive PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Award
PEN named Aung Myint, a Burmese poet, and Tohti Tunyaz, an ethnic Uighur historian and writer, as recipients of its 2002 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. >> More
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March 26, 2001:
High school librarian, theater director receive PEN/Newman's Own Awards
PEN named Deloris Wilson and Alberto Sarraín as co-recipients of this year’s PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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General
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September 14, 2009:
Amazon.com Awards Grant to PEN American Center
 PEN American Center has been awarded a $25,000 grant from amazon.com to further develop its online communication resources and mobilize forces for freedom of expression throughout the world.
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March 20, 2007:
PEN American Center Elects Francine Prose as New President
PEN announced today the election of Francine Prose, the acclaimed novelist, short-story writer, and essayist, as its next president. >> More
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