PEN Canada

“The more people like my work, the more I face challenges and obstacles in Kurdistan. They’ve tried to silence me, even offered me money or to work for them. But I refused, because as a journalist you have to be the voice of those voiceless people.”

This is Kurdish-Canadian journalist Diary Marif persisting in his advocacy and journalism. Over the last five years, Diary used his journalism and media connections to advocate for five imprisoned writers in Kurdistan, including fundraising for their families, speaking with government officials, and hosting information seminars on the cases.

For this work, he was recognized last year with the Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize.

This year's prize is currently open for nominations — we encourage anyone interested in PEN to submit a nomination: https://pencanada.ca/advocacy-aid/marie-ange-garrigue-prize/

As you prepare your nomination, catch up with last year's winner, who tells PEN about how he continues his journalism with responsibility and optimism:

https://pencanada.ca/a-voice-for-voiceless-people-diary-marif-on-his-2025-marie-ange-garrigue-prize/

'A voice for voiceless people': Diary Marif on his 2025 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize - PEN Canada The Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize is awarded annually to those who have provided significant help to a writer or journalist outside Canada who has faced threats, violence, harassment, or imprisonment for reporting or commenting on issues of public interest. Past recipients include journalists, paralegal...

PEN International joins an international coalition of press freedom and human rights organizations calling for the immediate, unconditional release of Vietnamese journalist, author and democracy advocate Phạm Đoan Trang.

Today is her 48th birthday, and the sixth birthday she is spending behind bars:

Vietnam: PEN International joins coalition calling for the release of Phạm Đoan Trang on her birthday  — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide ‍ ‍ “I don’t want freedom for myself; that’s too easy. No, I want something greater: freedom for Vietnam.” Phạm Đoan Trang ‍ 27 May 2026: PEN International joins an international coalition of press freedom and human rights organisations calling for the immediate and unconditional re...

PEN members — RSVP to attend our Annual General Meeting.

🗓️ Thursday June 11, 2026
⏰ 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
📍 Online and at Victoria College, Toronto

This year for the first time the AGM will be hybrid – with a Zoom link available to any member or supporter across the country, and 20 in-person seats in Toronto available to PEN members only.

At this meeting, members will exercise their vote, hear from committee chairs, and connect with the board, as well as hear a poetry reading from one of last year's New Voices Award winners.

The AGM event is free to attend and registration is required:

Annual General Meeting 2026 - PEN Canada Be the first to see our annual report and participate in the elections for new board members. Stay afterwards for a summer social.

When Bangladesh held elections in February, the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami gained more seats than it ever had before.

Md Shafiqul Islam is a noted expert on Bangladesh, which ranks eighth in the world for population size. He is also a PEN Canada Writers in Exile member.

In an essay for Free Inquiry, he offers insights into the direction of democracy in Bangladesh and puts the election into perspective:

Electoral Arithmetic, Not Ideological Shift: Understanding Jamaat’s Gains in Bangladesh’s 2026 Election | Free Inquiry A recent report in The New York Times characterized Bangladesh’s latest election as a moment when Islamist politics overshadowed the student-led uprising ...

"I keep thinking about what Patricia said: someone just starting on this journey does not need the same resources as someone who already has experience.

Navigating all of this feels very different when you are a newcomer. If you do not have a network here, you are not only learning how to write or publish, you are also trying to understand a whole system on your own."

Last month, PEN hosted a workshop for Writers in Exile. Led by author and educator Patricia Westerhof, the workshop explored publishing in Canada, and offered a variety of practical advice and resources to empower the writers in their careers.

The PEN Writers in Exile is made up of nearly 100 journalists, poets, editors, satirists, translators, critics and playwrights across Canada, each of whom have fled threats or persecution in their homelands related to their writing.

Up next, new workshops and readings will be scheduled for the PEN Writers in Exile in September and October. In the meantime, this community of writers are continuing their monthly writing workshops with Firefly Creative Writing.

PEN Canada is always open to new Writers in Exile members living in Canada — questions and referrals can be sent to [email protected].

Learn more about this program and community: https://pencanada.ca/advocacy-aid/writers-in-exile/

We'll see you in June 👋🏼

Our back-to-back event begins with our Annual General Meeting, designed for PEN Canada members to exercise their vote, hear from committee chairs, and connect with the board.

Afterward, in the spirit of community and dialogue, PEN Canada is hosting its first Summer Social. This part of the evening is open to all writers and the public, and will centre on a conversation with Kim Echlin, a novelist, PEN International board member, and author of her newest work, Tell Others: Storytelling for a World in Turmoil (Penguin Random House Canada, 2026).

Both events are free to attend, and registration is required:

🗓️ Thursday June 11, 2026
📍 Victoria College, Toronto
⏰ 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. / AGM / in-person and online
⏰ 📚 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. / Summer Social & Book Talk with Kim Echlin / in-person

RSVP for the AGM: https://pencanada.ca/event/annual-general-meeting-2026/
RSVP for the Summer Social: https://pencanada.ca/event/summer-social-book-talk-with-kim-echlin/

As we near the deadline for the 2026 New Voices Award submissions (Thursday May 7 at midnight), take a look back on the poetry and stories from last year's finalists:

https://pencanada.ca/read-the-poetry-and-stories-of-the-2025-new-voices-award-cohort/

Two of these writers, Edie Raeney Chunn and Gwen Aube, have since published their debut chapbook or book of poetry, with Gwen launches the book in Montreal and New York, and Edie launching in Vancouver on Tuesday May 19:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-letters-of-puppet-and-clown-poetry-launch-tickets-1988692551957?aff=oddtdtcreator

PEN International has published its Annual Case List, the world's longest-running record of attacks on writers 🌎

This year's report documents a troubling global pattern: spaces for expression, culture and dissent are shrinking as governments intensify efforts to silence critical expression and target writers for their work.

The report documents 140 cases of persecution worldwide, including 32 writers imprisoned, 26 subjected to harassment, 23 facing judicial harassment, and 12 victims of enforced disappearance.

Among them: journalist and author Rana Ayyub continues to face death threats and harassment for her reporting. Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski was released from prison but forced into exile. In , journalist and author Óscar Enrique Martínez D’Aubuisson left the country after threats and reports of an arrest warrant linked to interviews exposing alleged government ties to gangs. In , the fate of 12 writers and journalists, detained for nearly 25 years, remains unknown, while poet Mohamed Tadjadit has been repeatedly imprisoned for his writings and activism.

PEN Canada is one of nearly 140 centres of PEN International, and we encourage all our members and supporters to engage with this report and learn how to take action.

Read about these emblematic cases, and see the full report, here: https://www.pen-international.org/case-list-2026

In Belarus, prison authorities systematically confiscate and destroy the manuscripts, letters and diary entries of those imprisoned.

For Svenska PEN/Opp, Maksim Znak, a lawyer, author and recently freed prisoner, shares his story of writing behind prison walls and the unbreakable will to create:

The Museum of Stolen Time ' Unexpected question vs. Unexpected answer