BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Pen Sydney - ECPv6.17.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://pen.org.au X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Pen Sydney REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Melbourne BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20220402T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20221001T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20230401T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20230930T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20240406T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20241005T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20250405T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20251004T160000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:UTC DTSTART:20230101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20231018T183000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20231018T203000 DTSTAMP:20230922T001512Z CREATED:20230919T063108Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230922T001512Z UID:2533-1697653800-1697661000@pen.org.au SUMMARY:Words In A War – Writers on the Russia Ukraine War DESCRIPTION:Where is freedom of speech in the Russian Ukraine war? Has truth been a victim of the conflict?How are Russian and Ukrainian writers\, journalists and poets responding to the war?What are the challenges of covering the war when there is so much at stake?How have both governments tried to shape the truth? \n \n \n \n \n \n Join this exclusive conversation with:\nDmitry Bykov is a prominent Russian-Jewish writer\, poet\, critic and satirist who has taken a strong political stance against Putin and against the war. He has been one of the top influencers of the Russian opposition for more than ten years\, since joining the Opposition Council\, along with Alexey Navalny. His criticism of Putin’s Russia and its Soviet period had almost cost him his life – he was allegedly poisoned with the same toxic agent that was used in an attempt to kill Navalny. \nZoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor of the POLITICO news website\, covering the war in Ukraine. She was born in Ukraine\, before moving to Australia as part of the post-Soviet diaspora in the early 1990s. Zoya has written about her experiences growing up in Ukraine through the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Soviet Union. She is a two-time Walkley Award finalist. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/words-in-a-war-writers-on-the-russia-ukraine-war/ LOCATION:Alexandria Town Hall\, 73 Garden St\, Alexandria\, NSW\, 2015\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bykov_poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20231118T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20231118T193000 DTSTAMP:20231022T154623Z CREATED:20231022T153654Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231022T154623Z UID:2709-1700330400-1700335800@pen.org.au SUMMARY:Day of the Imprisoned Writer DESCRIPTION:When Behrouz Boochani became the Voice of Manus he revealed the chaos and cruelty of a secret regime and made a nation take notice. But five years on from finding freedom in New Zealand who is Behrouz Boochani now?  \nIn this wide-ranging conversation\, he reflects on his years in detention capturing in words and on film the madness of Manus\, his more recent writing – including his book Freedom\, Only Freedom – his poetry and playwrighting\, and as a Kurdish activist his involvement in the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising in Iran \n \n \n \n \n \n What happens to imprisoned writers when they are no longer in prison?\nBehrouz will be talking with Ben Doherty – International Affairs correspondent for The Guardian – for PEN International’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer. \nBehrouz Boochani is a Kurdish-Iranian writer\, journalist\, scholar\, cultural advocate and filmmaker. Boochani was a writer and editor for the Kurdish language magazine Werya in Iran. He is an Honorary Member of PEN International; and winner of an Amnesty International Australia 2017 Media Award\, the Liberty Victoria 2018 Empty Chair Award\, and the Anna Politkovskaya award for journalism. He publishes regularly with The Guardian\, and his writing also features in The Saturday Paper\, Huffington Post\, New Matilda\, The Financial Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. Boochani is also co-director (with Arash Kamali Sarvestani) of the 2017 feature-length film Chauka\, Please Tell Us The Time. His book\, No Friend But The Mountains: Writing From Manus Prison won the 2019 Victorian Prize for Literature in addition to the Nonfiction category. His most recent book is Freedom\, Only Freedom. \nBen Doherty\, International affairs correspondent for The Guardian\, has reported across the Asia-Pacific\, including postings in Southeast and South Asia. His work focuses on human rights and humanitarian issues\, and forced migration. He holds master’s degrees from Oxford University and UNSW\, and is the author of a novel\, Nagaland. \nThis event is presented in partnership with the State Library of NSW. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/day-of-the-imprisoned-writer/ LOCATION:Home\, 245 Wilson St\, Eveleigh\, NSW\, 2015\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Behrouz-Boochani-2023-website.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20240523T130000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20240523T140000 DTSTAMP:20240428T133817Z CREATED:20240428T133652Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240428T133817Z UID:2983-1716469200-1716472800@pen.org.au SUMMARY:PEN Lecture: Writing from Prison in Myanmar DESCRIPTION:Sean Turnell spent almost two years in Myanmar’s terrifying Insein Prison\, accused of being a spy. Ma Thida was also incarcerated there\, where\, denied medical treatment\, she came very close to dying. \nHow did they survive? What hope do these important players in Myanmar’s government and politics hold for the return of democracy three years after the military seized power in a coup? In conversation with Catherine Renshaw. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Join us at the Sydney Writers Festival for this fascinating conversation. This is a free event. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/pen-lecture-writing-from-prison-in-myanmar/ LOCATION:Home\, 245 Wilson St\, Eveleigh\, NSW\, 2015\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ma_Thida_c_Ole_Witt-6-16x9-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20241114T190000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20241114T203000 DTSTAMP:20241030T041054Z CREATED:20241018T045120Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241030T041054Z UID:3146-1731610800-1731616200@pen.org.au SUMMARY:Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2024 DESCRIPTION:Recent high-profile prosecutions of whistleblowers – Witness K\, David McBride\, Richard Boyle have shown that blowing the whistle in Australia can land you in jail. What is the cost to our democracy? Keeping the bastards honest has never been more dangerous for whistleblowers and the journalists who bring their stories to light. \nFormer Senator Rex Patrick – advocate for whistleblowers \nPeter McCutcheon – Senior ABC Journalist on 730 \nAnneliese Cooper – Lawyer with the Whistleblower Project \nModerator – Michael West – Journalist \nJoin us for PEN Sydney’s annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Join us on Zoom 7pm AEDT on 14 November . This is a free event. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/whistleblowers-behind-bars-day-of-imprisoned-writer-pen-meaa/ LOCATION:Zoom ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PEN-whistleblowers-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250523T130000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250523T140000 DTSTAMP:20250427T054640Z CREATED:20250427T054639Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250427T054640Z UID:3322-1748005200-1748008800@pen.org.au SUMMARY:Shankari Chandran at Sydney Writers Festival DESCRIPTION:We live in an era of unprecedented access to information\, yet power and authority often present fiction as fact. \nAs a writer and lawyer\, Shankari Chandran recognises fiction’s limitations in delivering justice. But her interviews with survivors of Sri Lankan genocide inform her novels\, which provide a powerful opportunity to explore and reveal stories\, history\, war and injustice. Fiction is a crucial space for truth-telling\, especially when official channels are blocked. \nIn this PEN Sydney lecture\, hear the Miles Franklin Literary Award winner speak to her use of fiction as a living\, communal archive. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Join us for this free event at the Sydney Writers Festival on Friday 23 May at 1pm. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/shankari-chandran-pen-lecture-fictional-space/ LOCATION:Carriageworks\, 245 Wilson St\, Eveleigh\, NSW\, 2015\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Headshot-Horizontal-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251123T170000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251123T180000 DTSTAMP:20260820T110742Z CREATED:20260820T110730Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260820T110742Z UID:3572-1763917200-1763920800@pen.org.au SUMMARY:Cheng Lei on China and Freedom DESCRIPTION:When journalist Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese state security agents\, she thought she would be freed within the week. Instead\, she was held on absurd espionage charges in isolated conditions for more than three years. \nA veteran business journalist\, the Chinese-born Australian mother of two young children was at the pinnacle of her career anchoring China’s Global Business TV show\, when eight words texted to a friend led to devastating consequences. \nShe survived cruel interrogations\, a 90 minute show-trial and only once heard the voices of her children. \nCheng Lei-A Memoir of Freedom is a powerful meditation on hope\, freedom and the power of the human spirit; bravery in the face of cruelty and pettiness; the consolations of letters\, music and books; and how unexpected friendships and the love of family can unlock the courage we all have within us to prevail. \nCheng Lei is an Australian-Chinese journalist who has worked for both Western and Chinese media. She was born in China but grew up in Australia from the age of ten. At the tensest point in Australia–China relations\, she was detained for supplying ‘state secrets to overseas organisations’ and was incarcerated in Beijing by China’s Ministry of State Security for three years and two months. Australian diplomatic efforts secured her release\, and she was reunited with her family in October 2023. Lei is currently a presenter for Sky News and received the Press Freedom Award from the Australian Press Council. \n \n \n \n \n \n Join us for this free event at the Sydney Writers Festival on Friday 23 May at 1pm. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/cheng-lei-on-china-and-freedom/ LOCATION:Gleebooks\, 49 Glebe Point Rd\, Glebe\, NSW\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/130225ChengLei_cropped.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260819T180000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260819T193000 DTSTAMP:20260820T105434Z CREATED:20260820T105422Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260820T105434Z UID:3555-1787162400-1787167800@pen.org.au SUMMARY:How Free is Free Speech DESCRIPTION:Freedom of expression is front and centre in Australian public conversation. \nYet how free are journalists to express themselves\, particularly if their ideas are considered contentious or satirical? How do we responsibly maintain the rights of journalists to report the truth\, whilst also fostering mutual understanding and empathy between communities? \nAs commentary becomes more tribal and viewpoints more siloed\, how free are journalists and writers to express unorthodox\, controversial or nuanced positions? \nJoin three journalists who have all been silenced; Cathy Willcox\, Jan Fran and Peter Greste in conversation with writer Ben Law as they consider what we’re (not) allowed to say\, write and publish. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Join us for this free event at the Sydney Writers Festival on Friday 23 May at 1pm. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Book Now URL:https://pen.org.au/event/cathy-wilcox-jan-fran-peter-greste-yumi-stynes/ LOCATION:State Library of NSW\, 1 Shakespeare Pl\, Sydney\, NSW\, 2000\, Australia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Cathy-Wilcox-credit-Rhett-Wyman-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR