Day of the Imprisoned Writer

In the past year, the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN has monitored over 1,000 attacks on writers and journalists in 90 countries, 200 of whom are serving long prison, others have been threatened, harassed and attacked. Tragically, since 15 November 2007, 39 have been killed, many clearly in the pursuit of their professions, others in unclear circumstances.

The Day of the Imprisoned Writer, 15 November, is commemorated every year by PEN, the international writers association. PEN encourages writers and readers everywhere to think today about the importance of freedom of expression, and to be vigilant against attempts to take away that freedom. Each year PEN chooses five writers facing repression, harassment, or imprisonment in different regions of the world as "priority cases". This year's five are in Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Peru, and Zimbabwe.

Find out more here, at the International PEN website, and here, at the PEN American Centre website.