The work of Scottish PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee (WIPC) is often more frustrating than satisfying. We campaign on behalf of imprisoned and persecuted writers, many of whom have been jailed for talking about their governments in much the same way that many of us rage about David Cameron’s old Etonian Cabinet or the bedroom tax or Tony Blair’s promotion of war. […]

In the first week of taking office, our newly elected government has prioritised an agenda to remove the keystone of human rights in this country and dismantle vital legal protections for each and every citizen. We, the undersigned, wish to express our opposition to the Government’s plans to extend the surveillance state, weaken Freedom of […]

This is an edited extract from two essays by James Kelman relating to Turkey and Kurdistan, contained in his collection, And the Judges Said… and other essays [Polygon Books 2008] and is being reprinted here with the writer’s permission. The first “Freedom for Freedom of Expression Rally”, organised by a 200-strong group of artists and activists took place in Istanbul […]

“The Book of Whispers” by Varujan Vosganian, translated by Alistair Ian Blyth, who kindly made this text available to us and gave us permission to share it on our website  Chapter Seven ‘Do not harm their women,’ said Armen Garo. ‘And nor the children.’ One by one, all the members of the Special Mission gathered at […]

by Jean Rafferty It was a senseless death, senseless in the way all sudden deaths are to those left behind, but senseless beyond that for the irony, the waste, the sheer stupidity of it. On 19 th January 2007 in Istanbul, Hrant Dink, editor of Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, was gunned down by a young Turkish nationalist […]

“Armenian Whispers” – Worldwide reading to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian Genocide Led by the International Literature Festival Berlin and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam, there will be a worldwide reading on 21st of April from “The Book of Whispers” by Varujan Vosganian to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian Genocide. In addition to remembering the victims of this horrible event, […]

Dominic Hinde is a freelance journalist. This article originally appeared on The Conversation and is being reprinted with permission. — The first appearance by the controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks since the Copenhagen terrorist attacks was always going to be a tense affair. But just as I was preparing to leave for his talk in Gothenburg this […]

by Madeleine Campbell. This article was originally posted here on the Translation Studies @ Glasgow blog and is being reprinted with permission. — Our guest writer Madeleine Campbell attended a ‘literary duel’ between two translators of a poem by Chiew-Siah Tei. Starting with the titles, the English renditions of the Chinese work were dissected line by line to reveal challenges […]