Writer, journalist and television presenter Cheng Lei has accepted the role of president-designate of PEN Melbourne. Her appointment will be formally ratified at the organisation’s AGM in December 2026.
Cheng will succeed PEN Melbourne’s current president, who has held the position for ten years. In the lead-up to the AGM, she will work alongside the president and committee to learn more about the organisation and its advocacy for freedom of expression and writers at risk.
Cheng has worked as a journalist and television presenter in China, Singapore and Australia. In August 2020, while working as a television anchor in Beijing, she was detained by Chinese authorities and subsequently imprisoned on national security charges. She spent 1,154 days in detention, including prolonged periods of solitary confinement, before diplomatic efforts led to her release and return to Australia in October 2023.
Published memoir
Her book, Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom, recounts the shock of her arrest, the severe conditions of her imprisonment and the long separation from her children. It also reveals the strategies that helped her endure, including reading, receiving letters from home and supporting and educating other women in detention.
Cheng received the Australian Press Council’s Press Freedom Medal in 2024 and was named The Australian newspaper’s Australian of the Year in 2023. In May 2026, she co-created and performed in 1154 Days, a stage work based on her experiences of detention and survival.
Her appointment brings to PEN Melbourne a deeply personal understanding of imprisonment, censorship and the importance of international solidarity. Her experience, courage and continuing work as a journalist and writer will bring fresh energy to PEN’s defence of those who are persecuted or silenced for their words.
Australian Story
Cheng’s experiences are also explored in the recent 30-minute Australian Story episode, Time After Time, which examines the continuing effects of imprisonment and three years of separation from her children.
Image caption: 6 November 2019; Cheng Lei, Anchor, CGTN Europe, on Centre Stage during day two of Web Summit 2019 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Web Summit via Sportsfile