Author Archives: penperth

Annual General Meeting 2024 Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2024 Time: 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM AWSTLocation: Centre for Stories (100 Aberdeen Street Northbridge, WA 6003) Welcome to the PEN Perth Annual General Meeting 2024! Join us at the Centre for Stories for a meeting to discuss achievements over the last year, updates on our incarcerated adoptees, and aContinueContinue reading “AGM and Reading Secular India event (27/07/24)”

Key news Julian Assange freed Since founding WikiLeaks 18 years ago, Julian Assange has endured legal wranglings, arrest warrants, political asylum, incarceration and the threat of extradition to the US. He walked free and returned to Australia on 26 June. Here are some links to analyses of the case: The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/julian-assange-is-free-but-curly-legal-questions-about-his-case-remain-233339 The Spectator (UK):ContinueContinue reading “JUNE Newsletter: AGM, Assange, Ma Thida”

Ma Thida is a medical doctor, writer and human rights activist. She believes in freedom of expression. In 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and distributing unlawful literature.” She was released in 1999 and was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award, the PEN/BarbaraContinueContinue reading “Ma Thida – June events”

Event: A Conversation with Ma Thida: Myanmar and the Road to Freedom 15JUNE, 2 – 3pm (AWST) Location: Centre for Stories (100 Aberdeen Street Northbridge, WA 6003) In 1993, Ma Thida was sentenced to 20 years in prison for championing freedom of expression and literature in Myanmar. She was a prisoner of conscience for sixContinueContinue reading “MAY 2024 Newsletter”

PEN’s global community condemns book bans around the world “In the face of rising censorship, we must confront the tyranny of those who seek to silence the voices of dissent and truth. Through book bans, authorities attempt to suffocate the essence of freedom, but we must stand firm. Let literature be our shield against oppression,ContinueContinue reading “April 2024 newsletter”

Past event: Spotlight on Palestine Our Spotlight On Palestine event was a success: we had a full room and talented young writers sharing their moving pieces and thoughts on the Palestinian situation. Thank you to Rashida Murphy for organising this event. PEN International case list In 2023, global censorship persisted amidst escalating conflicts. In EuropeContinueContinue reading “March Newsletter”

Newsflash: Yang Hengjun’s death sentence PEN International joins the undersigned PEN Centres in condemning the handing down of a suspended death sentence to Australian writer Yang Hengjun, five years after he was detained and accused of espionage. According to a statement published by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, the death sentence can beContinueContinue reading “FEB Newsletter”

PEN International joins the undersigned PEN Centres in condemning the handing down of a suspended death sentence to Australian writer Yang Hengjun, five years after he was detained and accused of espionage. According to a statement published by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, the death sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment afterContinueContinue reading “Newsflash: Yang Hengjun’s death sentence”

Spotlight on Palestine https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/spotlight-on-palestine-tickets-805464725677?aff=oddtdtcreator Date: 1 March Time: 5-7 pm Location: Centre For Stories (100 Aberdeen St, Northbridge, WA, 6003) In November, PEN International condemned the arbitrary arrest of young Palestinian writer Ahed Tamimi from her house in the occupied West Bank, and called on the Israeli authorities to end their arbitrary arrests and detention of Palestinians, and to unconditionallyContinueContinue reading “Event Newsflash”

In case you missed it… Last year, we hosted Behrouz Boochani in person for the PEN Perth Annual Lecture 2023. He was joined in conversation with award-winning translator, Omid Tofighian and academic, Anne Surma. Together, they discussed defiance, resistance, displacement in relation to the act of writing freedom, asking what does it mean to bearContinueContinue reading “JAN Newsletter”

Dear members/friends It is that time of year when we all start preparing to celebrate with family and friends. However, some writers and journalists worldwide will not have that opportunity. There are writers in prison in various countries who have been imprisoned for writing about human rights in defiance of a government policy. We atContinueContinue reading “December 2023 – Holiday greeting”

Thanks to all who will be attending ‘Writing Freedom: Behrouz Boochani in conversation’: it was a fully booked out event. We look forward to seeing you soon. For those who missed it, Behrouz Boochani will be at Curtin Centre Human Rights Education for the event ‘Reflections on Activism with Behrouz Boochani’ (16NOV, 4-6PM). Book here:ContinueContinue reading “NOVEMBER 2023”