Scottish PEN joins 18 organisations in a call for justice, three years on from the assassination of investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The Justice Committee has today published the Stage 1 report on the Defamation and Malicious Publications (Scotland) Bill. Scottish PEN welcomes the report but highlights the need to progress a one-year limit on bringing defamation action.

The Scottish Black Writers Group is a new writers group facilitated by Scottish BAME Writers Network Co-Director Dean Atta, and in association with Scottish PEN. It is a monthly event open to writers across the UK and Ireland who are Black/from the African diaspora, including people of mixed heritage.

Scottish PEN has joined with English PEN, PEN International and several other centres to support a statement on the issue of online harassment.

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.