15th November is the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, a chance for writers and PEN centres around the world to stand in solidarity with at-risk or imprisoned writers everywhere. Too often writers, including journalists, novelists, playwrights, poets, translators and publishers, are censored, threatened with violence, attacked, imprisoned or murdered, solely for speaking out and speaking up.
“Be they poets, investigative journalists, short-story writers, lyricists – writers are under siege across the world. PEN’s focus cases for this year’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer highlight continued and sinister efforts from Mexico to Egypt to Turkey to silence writers and curtail freedom of expression. It is also a day of global mobilisation to stand in solidarity with writers who have had their freedom taken away for speaking truth to power. It is a day when we say to those who target writers and journalists that we will not let them be silenced.“
PEN International
The Day of the Imprisoned Writer was started by PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee in 1981, and since then PEN centres have used it to call for the release of imprisoned writers, better protections to those threatened with violence and justice for the writers who have been murdered for their work.
2021 Event
Our online event is being led by the Scottish PEN Writers at Risk group, and will feature readings from PEN members and guests relating to the cases of:
- Maria Ressa
- Dmitry Muratov
- Daphne Caruana Galizia
- Anna Politkovskaya
- Varavara Rao
- Ahmet Altan
Learn more about the threats faced by these writers and their colleagues, and other writers around the world, while having the opportunity to hear readings of their work, and responses to their work.
Information about event panelists will be shared shortly.
While tickets are available for free, we would appreciate any donations to support our work. You can contribute here.
Writers at Risk Committee
At Scottish PEN, work to mark the Day is led by our Writers At Risk Committee. You can find out more about their work here.
Letters of Solidarity
In previous years, Scottish PEN has brought together leading Scotland-based writers to pen letters of solidarity to at-risk and imprisoned writers in Turkey, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Uganda, Egypt, India and in detention in Papua New Guinea (as part of Australia’s immigration programme).
To read these letters of solidarity click the links below:
- Jane Archer‘s letter on behalf of Behrouz Boochani (Iran/Australia)
- Kirsty Logan‘s letter to Dr Stella Nyanzi (Uganda)
- Chris McQueer‘s letter to Galal el-Behairy (Egypt)
- Ricky Monahan Brown‘s letter to Lydia Cacho (Mexico)
- Chitra Ramaswamy‘s letter to Varavara Rao (India)
- James Robertson‘s letter to Ahmet Altan (Turkey)
- Zoë Wicomb‘s letter to Shakthika Sathkumara (Sri Lanka)
The Empty Chair
Every year, and at every Writers at Risk Committee event, we present an empty chair. This is a potent symbol of the absence of all at-risk or imprisoned writers. The Empty Chair does not just symbolise individual writers, instead it symbolises every writer who has been prevented from joining us, either by censorship, prison or violence. By having an Empty Chair at our events we are making present the absence of all writers who have been persecuted for their work.
