Writers at Risk
The Issue
Writers around the world face grave risks for speaking out, telling truths, and pushing back against the powerful. For that, they are often detained, arbitrarily arrested, attacked, tortured, and sometimes executed. Along with our partners around the world, PEN America and its Members advocate on behalf of writers at risk globally, rallying to their defense and promoting the freedom to write.
PEN America examines threats to free expression in our annual Freedom to Write Index, a year-end count of imprisoned writers worldwide. Explore our Writers at Risk Database for updated tracking of cases of writers, journalists, artists, academics, and public intellectuals around the world facing myriad threats for their writing and expression.
Latest News
Forcibly Expelled, Stripped of Their Citizenship and Deported to the U.S., Nicaraguan Writers and Artists Face “Fear and Uncertainty”
February 17, 2023Celebrating Reza Khandan Mahabadi’s Release From Prison in Iran, PEN America Calls for Release of Other Iranian Writers Wrongly Jailed
February 15, 2023PEN America and PEN Sydney Join More than 170 Writers Calling for the Release of Iranian Poet Ali Asadollahi and Other Writers Imprisoned in Iran
January 13, 2023
PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award: Our annual award for a courageous writer currently imprisoned
The PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, a powerful tool in PEN America’s year-round efforts to end the persecution of writers and defend free expression, is designated to honor a writer imprisoned for their work. Of the 51 jailed writers who have received the Award since 1987, 45 have been released — due in part to the global attention and pressure it generates.
The 2022 Pen/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honored Ukrainian freelance journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation on March 10, 2021, in Russian-occupied Crimea.
PEN America Writers Emergency Fund
The PEN America Writers Emergency Fund supports writers in dire need in the U.S. and worldwide. The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative provides direct financial support to writers facing economic hardships in the U.S.; and the Writers at Risk Program shines a spotlight on the plight of writers globally, providing behind-the-scenes assistance and advocacy support for writers facing persecution.
U.S. Writers Aid Initiative
Writing can be a solitary, economically fragile undertaking made even more precarious by unemployment, financial downturns, health problems, and other challenges. PEN America’s U.S. Writers Aid Initiative, part of the PEN America Writers Emergency Fund, offers grants for writers in the United States facing acute financial need following an emergency situation.
Individual Cases
China: Ilham Tohti
Iran: Nasrin Sotoudeh
Russia: Yury Dmitriev
Egypt: Galal El-Behairy
Take Action for Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi
This year, PEN America is honoring imprisoned Iranian writers Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi with the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. All three writers have been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities for their writing, their defense of free expression, and their peaceful opposition to state censorship. Join PEN America in calling for their release now.
Commentary
Myanmar’s Escalating Digital Repression—and Activists' Digital Resistance
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel Testifies in the House on Human Rights and Saudi Arabia
Truth-Telling And Its Dire Consequences: PEN America Hosts Conversation with Writers Targeted by Authoritarians Around the Globe
