#PENCongress
Today we opened the General Assembly of our 92nd Congress: Writers at Risk in the Age of AI and Global Disorder. Now, Burhan Sonmez speaks to the Assembly, reminding us a book's value lies in the human act of writing it.

#PENCongress
September 29, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Storytelling has always been how we understand the world around us, so writers and readers deserve a say in what comes next.

As Burhan Sonmez warns, we must address the risks of AI now, before its future is shaped entirely by commercial interests or political power.

#PENCongress
September 29, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Francisco Alejandro Leyva Aguilar, one of Oaxaca's best-known political columnists, was shot dead in July 2026, a day after publishing a column criticising the governor's administration.

PEN International calls for a prompt, independent investigation.

#EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 28, 2026 at 3:37 PM
#SelahattinDemirtaş: sentenced to 42 years for words spoken in dissent. Honorary PEN member and writer, detained in Türkiye since 2016. The ECHR has twice ordered his release and yet Türkiye ignores both rulings.

PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release. #EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 26, 2026 at 10:54 AM
#AhmedMansoor, the UAE's last openly working human rights defender, has been jailed since 2017 on vague charges. Serving 25 years in isolation, with no bed, water or shower, and denied family visits.

PEN International calls for his immediate and unconditional release.

#EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 29, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Opening our 92nd Annual Congress, PEN International President Burhan Sonmez addressed the Assembly about what is at stake as AI reshapes how we write and communicate.

Every language carries its own memory of the world, and protecting that diversity is at the heart of our work.

#PENCongress
September 29, 2026 at 12:26 PM
#PhamDoanTrang: 6 birthdays behind bars, unless the world speaks up.

Vietnamese author serving 9 years for "propaganda against the State" despite a UN ruling it arbitrary. Held nearly 1,600km from her elderly mother.

PEN International calls for her immediate release.

#EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 28, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Chinese writer #DongYuyu is serving 7 years after a closed-door espionage trial. Now hospitalised with a lung tumour, he can't get the cancer care he needs in prison.

We call for his immediate release, and urgent treatment and family contact until then.

#EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 29, 2026 at 9:11 AM
#InnocentBahati: five years without answers for a poet who spoke out.

The Rwandan poet has been missing since February 2021, after a dinner meeting he never returned from. His phone has been off ever since.

PEN demands Rwanda account for his whereabouts. #EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 28, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Comença #PENcongress @peninternational.bsky.social

Els membres del @pencatala.bsky.social ens hem dividit als diferents comitès

Assisteixo al de Traducció i drets lingüístics

La cadira buida és per Ashraf Omar, artista i traductor, detingut a Egipte

www.pen-international.org/cases/ashraf...
September 2, 2025 at 7:41 AM
#MaríaCristinaGarridoRodríguez: a poet in solitary confinement for daring to protest. The Cuban poet and activist is serving 7 years for joining peaceful protests. Her collection Voz cautiva was written from prison.

We call for her immediate and unconditional release. #EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 26, 2026 at 11:58 AM
#IsmailAlexandrani: Freed once, silenced again.

Award-winning Egyptian journalist covering Sinai, arrested 24 Sept 2025 on terrorism charges over Facebook posts, after serving 7 years following a grossly unfair trial. PEN calls for his immediate, unconditional release.
#EmptyChair #PENCongress
September 27, 2026 at 9:37 AM
On day two of our General Assembly, delegates begin to set out why our founding mission matters as much now as it did in 1921.

In a world filling up with artificial voices our priority is to defend the human voice and to protect the freedom to read and write for everyone.

#PENCongress
September 30, 2026 at 12:09 PM
"Els escriptors no tenen exèrcits, estan sols, però diuen coses que els autòcrates no volen sentir i coses que els altres necessiten sentir." Aquest és el seu poder.

Margaret Atwood.
#pencongress
@pencatala.bsky.social
September 2, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Sonnenmoment in #Oxford genutzt mit Wezi Glory vom PEN Malawi, immer eine Freude dich zu sehen!

#PENCongress
September 27, 2024 at 9:56 AM
LIVE: At PEN International’s 91st Congress, President Burhan Sonmez reflects: the 20th century brought unbearable pains, and yet a quarter into the 21st, bombs, poverty and oppression still echo across continents.
September 2, 2025 at 4:16 PM
No Safe Haven: Writers and the Rise of Transnational Repression. Join us TOMORROW, 16:00–17:30pm BST online, as part of our 92nd Annual Congress.

📅 30 September 2026, 16:00–17:30 BST
📍 Online

Book your free ticket here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-safe-ha...

#PENCongress
No Safe Haven: Writers and the Rise of Transnational Repression
Held as part of PEN International’s 92nd Annual Congress, “Writers at Risk in the Age of AI and Global Disorder.”
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 29, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Recorden Ngugi wa Thiong'o el defensor de les llengües minoritzades d'arreu del món, va ser arrestat sense judici ni càrrecs a una presó de màxima seguretat per una obra de teatre en kikuiu. També el seu paper en la Declaració universal de Drets lingüístics signada a Barcelona el 1996. #PENcongress
September 2, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Threats don't end when writers flee. Join @smohyeddin.bsky.social and writers, journalists & human rights advocates to unpack transnational repression and exile in the upcoming panel "No Safe Haven" - part of our 92nd Annual Congress. Free ticket⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1999394423...

#PENCongress
No Safe Haven: Writers and the Rise of Transnational Repression
Held as part of PEN International’s 92nd Annual Congress, “Writers at Risk in the Age of AI and Global Disorder.”
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 21, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Leider nur via Zoom, aber mit einer großartigen Rede zu "Freedom of Expression" durfte ich heute eins meiner literarischen Vorbilder erleben 🥰

#MargaretAtwood #PENCongress #Krakau
September 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
És esgarrifosa la llarga llista de paraules prohibides als EUA en les relacions amb l'administració de Trump.

#pencongress
@pencatala.bsky.social
@penamerica.bsky.social
September 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
@peninternational.bsky.social 90th Congress in Krakow Poland “Freedom of Words, Words of the Free.” Panels on literature, climate, global conflicts, poetry reading & for me friends of a lifetime and new from around the world.
#freedomofwords #wordsofthefree #pencongress #krakow #freedomofexpression
September 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM