PEN Perth is a non-profit organisation fighting for human rights and responsible freedom of speech.
Join us to amplify the voices of writers who are threatened, marginalised or imprisoned.
Located on Whadjuk land, Boorloo, Western Australia
PEN Perth is a chapter of PEN International, working at the intersection of writing and politics. PEN International was founded in London in 1921 and now has 150 centres worldwide.
PEN Perth is active on local and international issues — including Indigenous incarceration, refugee detention, and a free press — and campaigns for the release of wrongfully imprisoned writers. It advocates responsible freedom of expression, raises public awareness, and promotes a world where writers can speak freely and respectfully.
Advocacy
At the apex of PEN Perth’s activities, we are involved with a number of other centres to ensure the release of writers and journalists who have been wrongfully imprisoned. This means being advocates for those who are in jail and working towards their release into a society that is safe and values them and their work.
We promote campaigns where we ‘adopt’ writers at risk and raise awareness of their situations. We do this by writing to imprisoned writers, their families, their embassies or their support networks and encouraging others to join these activities.
Empty Chair
At our events, and those of our partners, we keep an empty chair as a powerful symbol of writers who are imprisoned, persecuted, or missing due to their work. This chair serves as a reminder that these writers — whose voices have been silenced — should be present among us, sharing their words and ideas. By acknowledging the Empty Chair, we honour their courage, draw attention to their plight, and reaffirm our commitment to defending freedom of expression worldwide.
Latest news
Murray Hunter faces criminal charges
Australian writer and academic, Murray Hunter, is facing criminal charges in Thailand for articles he published online criticising Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Malaysia is the current Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is obligated under the ASEAN Charter to uphold human rights and freedoms, democracy, rule of law and good governance. Pursuing criminal defamation across borders contradicts those commitments.
PEN Centres around Australia have written a joint letter to Senator Penny Wong and the Australian Government urging the escalation of Murray’s case and the negotiation of his release. Read the letter.
Hany Babu released on bail
After more than five hard years behind bars – arrested in July 2020 under the controversial Bhima Koregaon / Elgar Parishad case – Dr Hany Babu has been granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
This wasn’t some quick detour behind bars – the bail was granted on the grounds of prolonged pre-trial detention, a flag that justice delayed shouldn’t become justice denied.
The court seems to have drawn a line under indefinite detention without timely trial – a vindication, of sorts, not just for Hany Babu, but for the idea that the justice system must respect its own timelines. For him, his family and all who stood by him: this is more than bail. It’s a chance to rebuild, recover years lost and reconnect.
Jimmy Lai found guilty
On 15 December 2025, writer and media publisher Jimmy Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law (NSL), and a third count of seditious publications under the territory’s colonial-era sedition law. Lai, who recently turned 78, now faces spending the remainder of his life behind bars, with sentencing due to take place in 2026.
Suspended death sentence for Yang Hengjun
Writer Yang Hengjun’s health deteriorates as China’s decision on his suspended death sentence looms. See more. See the letter (and download below) PEN Perth and other PEN organisations have sent to Senator Penny Wong. Feel free to use this letter and send on your own behalf to help raise awareness.
Acknowledgement of Country
PEN Perth acknowledges this land’s traditional custodians, the Whadjuk Noongar people. We pay our respects to the Elders—past, present and future—and recognise their ongoing connection to Country. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
PEN Perth is proudly supported by Centre for Stories in Northbridge/Boorloo, Western Australia.
penperth.com 