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The bedrock work of the global PEN network is advocacy and assistance on behalf of individuals persecuted for their use of the written word or other forms of expression. PEN America's Writers at Risk Database is a searchable catalog of the writers, journalists, artists, academics, and public intellectuals under threat around the world. The database includes historical cases PEN America has worked on from 1987 onwards; non-active cases are color-coded black. PEN America is grateful for the John Templeton Foundation for their support of the Writers at Risk Database and to PEN International for their collaboration in assembling this database.1
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Our Glorious HISTORY!
Celebrate Our PEN International CENTENNIAL with Your Purchase!
About this book Published as part of PEN International’s Centenary celebrations, PEN International: An Illustrated History is the extraordinary story of how PEN has placed the celebration of literature and the defense of free speech at the center of humanity’s struggle against repression since 1921. The book takes the reader through the key moments of PEN’s history over the last 100 years, in 320 pages and more than 500 pictures, letters, documents, posters and maps. From opposing book-burning and the persecution of writers in Nazi Germany, to supporting imprisoned writers across the world today, PEN has worked to safeguard against all kinds of censorship and self-censorship. The extraordinary writers who have been PEN cases include: Federico García Lorca, Stefan Zweig, Musine Kokalari, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Anna Politkovskaya, Hrant Dink and Svetlana Alexievich. Those writers’ voices, and those of the many others who have battled to uphold the opening phrase of PEN’s Charter— “Literature knows no frontiers”—are still very much with us. Their fortitude has made PEN International the strong, vibrant, active movement it is today. Their stories are told in this book, illustrated by unique archive photographs and documents. «My respect for this organization has no borders... PEN has been so fierce, so consistent and ferocious in its efforts that it is hard to ignore their worldwide impact» Toni Morrison «Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle humanity, and suppress truth» Liu Xiaobo Edited by Carles Torner and Jan Martens Carles Torner was PEN International Executive Director from 2014 to 2020 and is currently the director of the PEN Centenary. Jan Martens is a publisher and co-founder, with Bato Tomasevic, of the Motovun Group of International Publishers. Authors: Ginevra Avalle, Jennifer Clement, Peter McDonald, Rachel Potter, Carles Torner, Laetitia Zecchini.
"Periodistas de a Pie" is an organization composed mostly of active women journalists, which seeks to raise the quality of journalism in Mexico through training and the exchange of investigative techniques, experiences, reporting strategies, narrative styles and innovative ways of approaching. The organization was founded in 2007 with the idea of looking for a social dimension in any type of news event and putting a human face to the news; approach information from a human rights perspective; explain why what happens to him happens to him, through the denunciation, the exposition of causes and the proposal of solutions.
PEN International Women Writers Committee
A campaign to create opportunities for writers who have experienced forced displacement or are living in exile.
is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. They defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
is a non-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and expression in the Americas:
Site created by Reporteras en Guardia, with information on murdered Mexican journalists.
PEN Guadalajara
Our parent organization
The Chicago Network for Justice and Peace assists individuals and organizations in their efforts to promote literacy and the use of the literary arts for creating effective communication between and among cultures and groups within cultures; in doing so, we seek to foster community building and the common cause for justice and peace.