Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2021: Writers as Champions of the Right to Free Expression

This year, marking the 40-year anniversary of the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, PEN America is holding a virtual panel discussion with Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and Burmese writer Ma Thida, two writers formerly imprisoned for their writing; Jewher Ilham, the eldest daughter of imprisoned Uyghur writer-economist Ilham Tohti; and Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America’s director of free expression at risk programs. Prominent authors Marie Arana and Azar Nafisi joined us for special remarks in support of imprisoned writers around the world. On this day, we remember their imprisonment and forced absence with an empty chair.

Since November 15, 1981, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer has been an opportunity for the international PEN network of over 100 centers around the world to draw particular attention to writers at risk and threats to free expression globally. By detaining writers, governments worldwide deprive them of their individual right to free speech, while also robbing the broader public of access to their innovative and influential voices of dissent, criticism, creativity, and conscience. In the 2020 Freedom to Write Index, PEN America found that last year, at least 273 writers and public intellectuals worldwide were jailed for their free expression, a number that increased from 238 writers in 2019.

Read more about the event at PEN.org: https://pen.org/event/day-of-the-imprisoned-writer-writers-as-champions-of-the-right-to-free-expression/

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