IMPRISONED NOT SILENCED: an evening of solidarity with writers at risk
Friday, 2nd December, 7-8:30pm at The Frontline Club
IMPRISONED NOT SILENCED: an evening of solidarity with writers at risk
2 December 2022 – 7-8:30 PM
The Frontline Club,
13 Norfolk Place, London, W2 1QJ
The Frontline Club, PEN International, and English PEN are delighted to invite you to an evening of reflection on how literature, journalism, and other forms of writing are both the target of censorship and a powerful tool for advocating for freedom of expression, and how global communities can maintain solidarity with those facing persecution.
ABOUT THE EVENT
A panel of writers and activists will discuss the cases of editor, publisher and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; Belarusian pro-democracy activist, writer and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski; British-Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah; and the case of the 12 Eritrean journalists, writers, poets, and government critics detained without trial and held incommunicado since 2001. They will also explore the importance of solidarity and the ways in which people can offer meaningful practical and moral support to writers at risk.
With the generous participation of writer, editor, and journalist, Deepa Anappara, lawyer and human rights defender Stella Assange, writer and PEN Eritrea director Awet Fissehaye, writer, translator, and activist Hanna Komar and writer and activist Ahdaf Soueif. The evening will be moderated by PEN International board member and writer Salil Tripathi and will close with readings of solidarity letters written by Siri Hustvedt and Ahdaf Soueif to imprisoned Iranian writer Narges Mohammadi, and a performance by Uyghur musician and activist Rahima Mahmut. This will be followed by a drinks reception in the Frontline Club bar.