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AGM and Reading Secular India event (27/07/24)
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 a…
Keep readingJUNE Newsletter: AGM, Assange, Ma Thida
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):…
Keep readingMa Thida – June events
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/Barbara…
Keep readingMAY 2024 Newsletter
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 six…
Keep readingApril 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,…
Keep readingMarch 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 Europe…
Keep readingFEB 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 be…
Keep readingNewsflash: 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 be commuted to life imprisonment after…
Keep readingEvent Newsflash
Spotlight on Palestine 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 unconditionally release…
Keep readingJAN Newsletter
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 bear…
Keep readingDecember 2023 – Holiday greeting
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 at…
Keep readingNOVEMBER 2023
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:…
Keep readingOctober 2023 – Upcoming events, survey, release of Cheng Lei
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 released…
Keep readingAUG Newsletter – AGM notice and membership
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 the…
Keep readingJULY 2023 newsletter
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 terrorism…
Keep readingJUNE Newsletter
With the growing political polarisation, conservative leaders have taken a close and biased policing of book titles about race, gender and sexuality. Amanda Gorman wrote a poem for Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 named The Hill We climb. This year, the poem has been placed on a restricted list Bob Graham Education Center in Miami…
Keep readingMAY 2023 Newsletter
Looking back at World Press Freedom Day World Press Freedom Day Celebrated every 3rd of May, this year’s theme for the Day was “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights” (working title), signifying the enabling element of freedom of expression to enjoy and protect all other…
Keep readingAPRIL 2023 Newsletter
Afghanistan: Arrest of girls’ education activist latest example of Taliban repression PEN International is deeply concerned over reports regarding last week’s arrest of educator and prominent advocate for girls’ education, Matiullah Wesa, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Matiullah’s detention is just the latest example of the Taliban’s intolerance towards anyone who challenges…
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