Author Archives: penperth

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”

PEN Perth call for volunteers and feedback form We appreciate your ongoing involvement with PEN Perth and would like to know how we can improve. Please submit your responses via this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJFK7VM Release of Cheng Lei (left) but Yang Hengjun (right) still imprisoned We are thrilled to report that Cheng Lei has been releasedContinueContinue reading “October 2023 – Upcoming events, survey, release of Cheng Lei”

NOTICE OF Annual General Meeting, followed by in conversation event with Ma Thida on Writers at Risk in Burma5:30PM (Thursday) 21st September 2023Centre for Stories, 100 Aberdeen Str., Northbridge BOOK HERE FOR EVENT  The 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Perth PEN Centre will be held at 5.30pm on Thursday 21st September 2023 at theContinueContinue reading “AUG Newsletter – AGM notice and membership”

Starting with good news – releases and awards Release of Chau Van Kham Australian man Chau Van Kham has been released from a Vietnamese prison and reunited with his family in Australia. Mr Chau, a retired baker from Sydney, was detained in Vietnam in January 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in prison on terrorismContinueContinue reading “JULY 2023 newsletter”