Day of the Imprisoned Writer
Encyclopedia
The Day of the Imprisoned Writer is an annual, international day intended to recognize and support writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their right to impart information. This day is observed each year on November 15. It was started in 1981 by International PEN
's Writers in Prison Committee.
In addition to increasing the public's awareness of persecuted writers in general, PEN uses the Day of the Imprisoned Writer to direct attention to several specific persecuted or imprisoned writers and their individual circumstances. Each of the selected writers is from a different part of the world, and each case represents circumstances of repression that occur when governments or other entities in power feel threatened by what writers have written. On this day, the general public is encouraged to take action--in the form of donations and letters of appeal--on behalf of the selected writers.
The day also serves to commemorate all of the writers killed since the previous year's Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Between November 15, 2007 and November 15, 2008, at least 39 writers from around the world were killed in circumstances that appeared to be related to their professions.
2007
2006
2005
2004
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
's Writers in Prison Committee.
In addition to increasing the public's awareness of persecuted writers in general, PEN uses the Day of the Imprisoned Writer to direct attention to several specific persecuted or imprisoned writers and their individual circumstances. Each of the selected writers is from a different part of the world, and each case represents circumstances of repression that occur when governments or other entities in power feel threatened by what writers have written. On this day, the general public is encouraged to take action--in the form of donations and letters of appeal--on behalf of the selected writers.
The day also serves to commemorate all of the writers killed since the previous year's Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Between November 15, 2007 and November 15, 2008, at least 39 writers from around the world were killed in circumstances that appeared to be related to their professions.
Highlighted writers from past observances of the Day of the Imprisoned Writer
2008- Eynullah Fatullayev; journalist, Azerbaijan
- Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza; student and poet, Peru
- Mohammad Sadiq KaboudvandMohammad Sadiq KaboudvandMohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand is an Iranian Kurdish activist and journalist. He was the editor of Payam-e Mardom. He is also the founder of Kurdistan Human Rights Organization . Founded in 2005, the organization is a politically and religiously independent body...
; journalist, Iran - Tsering Woeser; writer and poet, China
- Writers, Cast and Crew of The Crocodile of Zambezi; Zimbabwe
2007
- Normando Hernanez Gonzalez; journalist, Cuba
- Jamshid KarimovJamshid KarimovJamshid Karimov is a prominent journalist in Uzbekistan. His uncle is current President Islam Karimov. His whereabouts are unknown, but he was last seen in Jizzakh on 12 September 2006 before he went to visit his mother in a hospital....
; journalist, Ouzbekistan - Fatou Jaw Manneh; journalist, Gambia
- Yaghoub Yadali; novelist, Iran
- Zargana Maung Thura; poet and comedian, Burma
2006
- Hrant DinkHrant DinkHrant Dink or Հրանտ Դինք ) was a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent editor, journalist and columnist....
; newspaper editor, Turkey - Wesenseged Gebrekidan; journalist, Ethiopia
- Lydia CachoLydia CachoLydia Cacho Ribeiro is a Mexican journalist and feminist and human rights activist. She is a member of the Red Internacional de Periodistas con Visión de Género.-Biography:...
; writer, Mexico - Yang Xiaoqing; Internet journalist, China
2005
- Orhan PamukOrhan PamukFerit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....
; writer, Turkey - Shi TaoShi TaoShi Tao is a mainland Chinese journalist, writer and poet, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.-Brief history:Shi Tao...
; poet and activist, China - Dr. Roya TolouiRoya TolouiRoya Toloui is a prominent Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights activist and feminist, currently residing in US. She was born in Baneh in western Iran...
; writer and women’s rights activist, Iran - Paul Kamara; journalist, Sierra Leone
- Victor Rolando Arroyo; journalist, Cuba
2004
- Amir-Abbas Fakhravar; writer, Iran
- Rakhim Esenov; writer, Turkmenistan
- Guy-André KiefferGuy-André KiefferGuy-André Kieffer is a journalist of dual French-Canadian nationality who worked in West Africa generally, and in Côte d'Ivoire specifically. On April 16, 2004, he was kidnapped from an Abidjan parking lot and has not been seen since....
; journalist, Ivory Coast - Roberto Mora, Frandicos J. Ortiz, and Francisco Arratia Saldierna; journalists, murdered in Mexico
External links
- International PEN
- PEN American Center
- PEN Canada
- English PEN
- http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/World-Day-of-the-imprisoned-writer,2451
- http://www.echoworld.com/B07/B0711/B0711_PEN1.htm