Scottish PEN President and Project Manager join call for transparency on UK...
Carl MacDougall, President of Scottish PEN, and Lisa Clark, Project Manager, have signed a letter led by Open Democracy, calling for investigation and greater transparency around the UK Government’s...
View ArticleInternational Women’s Day: Scottish PEN Women Writers Committee
The Scottish PEN Women Writers Committee invites you to a free event celebrating International Women’s Day on Monday 8th March. The committee will use this opportunity to welcome writers to discuss...
View ArticleAnonymous survey asks writers and publishers to share experiences of...
A new survey from Scottish PEN and the University of Strathclyde is seeking to establish the impact that Scottish defamation law has on writers, publishers and social media users. The survey has been...
View ArticleLegal threats against actor David Paisley are disproportionate and deeply...
Scottish PEN argues that defamation law should be not be used by those in positions of power as a means of silencing fair comment or criticism. Scottish actor, director and musician David Paisley has...
View ArticleScottish PEN reaffirms call to overturn judgement concerning Irish-language...
Ahead of tomorrow’s appeal to The Arches Court of Canterbury (24th February 2021), Scottish PEN reaffirms its support for Margaret Keane’s family to remember their late mother in the Irish language on...
View ArticleEnsure Defamation reform protects online speech: Support Section 30 amendments
Tomorrow (Tuesday 2 March 2021), the Scottish Parliament will vote to reform Scotland’s Defamation law. Currently, section 30 of the Defamation and Malicious Publications (Scotland) Bill would provide...
View ArticlePENning magazine online reading event
Join our Writers in Exile Committee and a variety of published writers as we hear readings from PENning magazine. About this Event Our free online event will take place on Thursday 18th March at...
View ArticleEvent review: Poetic Offensive
This review of the Scottish PEN Poetic Offensive event at Paisley Book Fest was first published here. By Joe Smith Presented by Scottish PEN, this event asked – ‘How offensive can poetry be?’ This...
View ArticleScottish Black Writers Group with Patrice Lawrence
During Black History Month, we partnered with Scottish BAME Writers Network to launch the Scottish Black Writers Group. The next meeting of the group is set for Thursday 18th March and features writer...
View ArticleScottish PEN response: Scottish Parliament vote to pass the Defamation and...
Yesterday evening (2.3.21), the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Defamation and Malicious Publications (Scotland) Bill and heard the final round of proposed amendments. Scottish PEN has been...
View ArticleAnthology celebration event: Declarations on Freedom for Writers and Readers
‘This rich anthology won’t merely be relevant to the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, the poems and prose will remain relevant until humanity accepts the individual’s right to...
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Radio Silence: Documentary screening and Q&A
To mark World Press Freedom Day, we are excited to be teaming up with Take One Action! to host a screening and discussion of RADIO SILENCE – a powerful portrait of unstoppable Mexican journalist...
View ArticleNew Declarations writing project
Today (6 April 2021), Scottish PEN Trustee Rebecca Sharp launches an artist-led online collective writing project, entitled ‘What does freedom mean, now?‘ as part of the Arbroath 2020+1 festival. The...
View ArticleScottish Black Writers Group with Nick Makoha
The next meeting of the Scottish Black Writers Group is set for Thursday 15th April and features guest writer Nick Makoha. During Black History Month 2020, we partnered with Scottish BAME Writers...
View ArticleScottish Black Writers Group with Dorothy Koomson
The next meeting of the Scottish Black Writers Group is set for Thursday 20th May and features guest writer Dorothy Koomson. During Black History Month 2020, we partnered with Scottish BAME Writers...
View ArticleHelen Cruickshank Lecture with Dr Candice Goucher
In the inaugural Helen Cruickshank Lecture, Dr Goucher explores the networks that have linked women writers together throughout history. In this lecture from the Scottish PEN Writers for Peace...
View ArticleWatch: ‘Radio Silence’ World Press Freedom Day event
To mark World Press Freedom Day, we teamed up with Take One Action, NUJ Scotland and PEN Chiapas Multicultural to host a live panel discussion exploring the limits of press freedom in Mexico and...
View ArticleScottish PEN expresses grave concern regarding the plight of writers in Gaza
Scottish PEN notes with grave concern that on 15th May 2021 targeted airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force destroyed the offices of international media outlets the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in...
View ArticleScottish PEN expresses deep concern for the health and safety of Indian...
As India reels under the second wave of a highly transmissable and deadly variant of the coronavirus, Scottish PEN is deeply disturbed by the health condition of writers, journalists and student...
View ArticlePEN Centres worldwide call for the acquittal of all defendants in the Gezi...
Thursday 20 May 2021 – 10:14am Osman Kavala 20 May 2021 – We, the undersigned PEN Centres, condemn the continued judicial harassment of all defendants in the Gezi trial, the new hearing of which takes...
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