On Wednesday 14 February 2024, fifteen UK independent bookshops will hold events to raise money for the PEN Emergency Fund to provide support ringfenced for writers at risk who are in and from Palestine.

Chair of the Scottish PEN Writers at Risk Committee, Lizzie Eldridge, spoke at two of the recent protests in Glasgow.

Scottish PEN must yet again condemn the targeted killing of journalists by the Israeli army in its continuing attacks on Gaza. The two young men who died in these latest killings were Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya, whose vehicle was targeted by a missile strike on 7 January as they were trying to interview civilians displaced by previous bombings.

Co-chair of the Scottish PEN Writers at Risk Committee, Lizzie Eldridge, wrote these two stories in response to the conflict in Gaza. The stories were originally published by Literary Revelations, who have given kind permission for them to be reposted here.

This film by writer, Lizzie Eldridge and director, John Quinn was made in collaboration with Scottish PEN, with music by Mick MacNeil. It is their contribution to the exhibition of commemorative artworks at the Catholic Institute in Floriana, marking the six-year anniversary of her death.

Scottish PEN is extremely alarmed by recent events taking place in Malta. On Tuesday, 3 October, Robert Aquilina, the President of the anti-corruption NGO Repubblika, was abruptly called in for police questioning in relation to a press conference he gave the previous Friday, accusing the public broadcaster, PBS, of censorship. 

Scottish PEN expresses our deepest concerns over the decision by the UK High Court to reject the appeal of Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange against his extradition order to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison for his role in obtaining and publishing classified military and diplomatic documents

Scottish PEN joins PEN International in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Wai Moe Naing, and for all charges against him to be dropped.