In this study we hear from over 100 writers, editors, publishers and activists, who detail their experiences of defamation threats and the law, their fears around censorship in public discourse, and their feelings about free expression in Scotland today.

In this lecture from the Scottish PEN Writers for Peace Committee, we celebrate the life, poetry and activism of Helen Cruickshank, and explore how the themes of her work resonate for writers today. In her lecture, Dr Goucher focuses on the ways in which interconnections and networks have linked together women writers. From the world’s […]

The Belarussian authorities must urgently end their relentless crackdown on independent and critical voices, PEN International said today, as attacks against writers, journalists and cultural workers in Belarus continue unabated.

The next meeting of the Scottish Black Writers Group is set for Thursday 17th June and features guest writer Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

We, the undersigned PEN Centres, condemn the continued judicial harassment of all defendants in the Gezi trial, the new hearing of which takes place tomorrow. We further call for all charges against the defendants in this case to be dropped and for the publisher, civil society actor and human rights defender Osman Kavala’s immediate and unconditional release from prison.

As India reels under the second wave of a highly transmissable and deadly variant of the coronavirus, Scottish PEN is deeply disturbed by the health condition of writers, journalists and student activists in crowded Indian prisons where COVID 19 has affected many of the prisoners.

Scottish PEN notes with grave concern that on 15th May 2021 targeted airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force destroyed the offices of international media outlets the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in Gaza

To mark World Press Freedom Day, we teamed up with Take One Action, NUJ Scotland and PEN Chiapas Multicultural to host a live panel discussion exploring the limits of press freedom in Mexico and Scotland. Watch it online now.