Scottish PEN is pleased to welcome members to attend our online Annual General Meeting at 12.00pm on Saturday 24th October 2020. This is an opportunity for members to share ideas, celebrate our work to date and contribute to our global work defending free expression.

Scottish PEN welcomes today’s announcement by Humza Yousaf, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, that key changes will be made to the proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, including a requirement that intention to stir up hatred is proven beyond a reasonable doubt before an offence can be prosecuted.

Scottish PEN joins PEN International in expressing grave concerns over the health and wellbeing of prominent Iranian writer, lawyer and human rights activist, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been on hunger strike in protest against the dire prison conditions that political detainees in Iran continue to face during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In advance of a piece written by Carl MacDougall focusing on the work of Sam Selvon, we republish ‘Lonely Londoners and Dreaming Dundonians’, an introduction to Sam and his relationship with Carl, originally published by Grant Hill on the University of Dundee website in 2018.

UK PEN centres note with great concern the recent blacklisting of the British group of investigative journalists whose work focuses on the foreign, military and intelligence policies of the United Kingdom, Declassified UK, by the United Kingdom Government Ministry of Defence, and the MoD’s decision to exclude Declassified UK from MoD comment, in apparent retaliation for the group’s previous reporting on the war in Yemen.

Member Centres of PEN International around the world condemn the arrest yesterday of members of the Belarus PEN Centre. This heightens our concerns about the ongoing attacks on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest in the wake of the elections in Belarus on 9 August 2020 which have escalated in recent days.

Scottish PEN is delighted to announce the introduction of a monthly payment option for those wishing to join us in membership. This new subscription is set at £2.75 per month and includes all the same benefits as the Writer membership.

Continuing our Amplify Black Voices series, we share a short review of Candice Braithwaite’s non-fiction book, I Am Not Your Baby Mother.