PEN Sydney - News

In a Christmas message from his prison cell in Turkey İlhan Sami Çomak ponders the nature of God and asks his supporters to recite these words upon his release from 30 years imprisonment in June next year. "It's done.  And so, I have come / May all the scurrilous winds be silent!" 

As we begin a new year, we thank you for your continued support of PEN Sydney and PEN International's work. In 2022 there was some good news worth celebrating.

If you love the SWF and have time, why not volunteer for SWF? A long term partner of PEN Sydney - providing us with support to deliver one of our k...

Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk joins more than 170 other prominent writers and scholars in condemning the detention of writers and poets by Iran's Islamic Republic.

PEN Sydney strongly condemns the detention of Baha’i writer and poet Mahvash Sabet in Evin prison, Tehran, who is currently being held in solitary confinement. Sabet was awarded the 2017 PEN Pinter Prize and was recognised as an International Writer of Courage for her powerful book of Prison Poems, written during a previous 10 year detention.

PEN Sydney and PEN America condemn the arrest of three more Iranian writers, as Iran continues its crackdown on free expression, targeting writers and artists.

On 9 December join us for a special fundraising dinner in support of PEN Afghanistan. The evening will be an intimate gathering of the Afghan and Australian communities, celebrating freedom of expression and continuity of culture. We will feature the powerful voices of Afghan writers and poets here in Sydney. 

Buy tickets on humanitx

Promient Turkish academic and human rights defender arrested after restrained comments around alleged use of chemical weapons by the Turkish armed forces in the Kurdistan Regiona of Iraq.

Join Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert to hear about her 804 days in an Iranian prison and her campaigning for better conditions and access to justice for political prisoners.

A statement from the 88th Congress of PEN International in Uppsala, Sweden  for the global day of action in support of #MahsaAmini #WomenLifeFreedom say her name loudly Mahsa (Zhina) Amini!

Comedian and journalist Sami Shah was once accused of blasphemy in Australia and was forced into hiding. On International Blasphemy Day, he asks why these laws are still on our books?

False accusations and a transfer to a prison far from his family - the pressure on Arash Ganji is mounting.