@pencanada.bsky.social
We defend free expression, aid writers in peril, and celebrate literature. pencanada.ca
Save the date for our next Voices of Freedom reading event, featuring new work by members of the PEN Canada Writers in Exile.
🗓️ Wednesday March 18, 2026
⏰ 7:00 – 8:00 pm
📍 Alumni Hall, Victoria College (91 Charles St W, Toronto)
🎟️ Free, tickets available through Eventbrite: buff.ly/8CNua6v
#Guatemala: Journalist #JoseRubénZamora has now spent 1,295 days in arbitrary detention.
Today, the Second Court has the opportunity to deliver justice and allow him to face the spurious charges against him in freedom.
We invite you to explore an indispensable resource – PEN International’s handbook, A Guide to Defending Writers at Risk.
This manual is designed for PEN members, supporters and activists to plan and implement advocacy, campaigning, and media strategy in the fight for human rights.
buff.ly/XhkB8k0
🎟️ This Freedom to Read Week event is free, you can register on Eventbrite: buff.ly/xkzvAAg
10.02.2026 20:04 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Together, they will examine why independent thinking is important, why access to books and ideas matter, and what’s at stake when reading is constrained.
📍 Alumni Hall (91 Charles St W, Toronto)
📅 Wednesday February 25 at 6:30 pm EST
🎟️ Free, register on Eventbrite: buff.ly/xkzvAAg
Ray Robertson's The Right to be Wrong is a vigorous defense of independent thinking in an increasingly conformist, intolerant and fundamentalist world.
Ira Wells' On Book Banning provides a history of literary repression and argues today's censorship trivializes art and undermines democracy.
A timely conversation about the freedom to read and why intellectual risk is necessary in society.
This free event will be moderated by leading journalist and editor, Jessica Johnson, bringing together two award-winning writers, Ray Robertson (The Right to be Wrong) and Ira Wells (On Book Banning).
Jimmy Lai’s case cannot be viewed in isolation — it is emblematic of systematic erosion.
Once a global centre for independent media and open debate, Hong Kong has been transformed into a jurisdiction where writers face criminal prosecution for their work:
www.pen-international.org/news/china-h...
PEN America: The sentencing of pro-democracy activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison is a catastrophic blow to free speech in Hong Kong.
pen.org/press-releas...
Hear more from his son, daughter, a former Apple Daily employee, and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVz...
Today, newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
His sentence marks the longest punishment given so far under a China-imposed national security law that has stifled the press and virtually silenced dissent in Hong Kong.
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
This week, #writer, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi went on hunger strike whilst being held in detention by Iranian authorities.
Her son says he is “deeply worried” about his mother and everyone else detained by the regime:
www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/m...
PEN welcomes the release of Venezuelan journalist Rory Branker, after being subjected to arbitrary detention for almost a year.
While his release is a positive step, Rory Branker should never have been detained in retaliation for his journalistic work:
www.pen-international.org/news/venezue...
Did you know that there's a database of banned books across Canada?
If you've heard of a ban, the @cfetmu.bsky.social encourage all libraries (public, school, academic, and government) in Canada to add it to this online resource by completing a simple form:
cfe.torontomu.ca/databases/ca...
Event this week in #Toronto with Canadian writer, Margaret MacMillan:
03.02.2026 19:01 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Mehdi Mahmoudian, an Iranian screenwriter nominated for an Academy Award, was arrested this weekend in #Iran after signing a statement condemning his government for its deadly crackdown on protesters.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/w...
PEN International welcomes the release of five journalists in Venezuela and the acquittal of writer Amanda Echanis, as reported by LA NACION, an important step toward justice for those imprisoned for their words.
Read more about the cases in the article below ⬇️
www.lanacion.com.ar/cultura/buen...
Opinion: "Banning books in K-12 schools will further hinder students’ ability to tap into their enthusiasm for literature."
Rebecca Geleyn on how Alberta's ban of “visual depictions of sexual activities” may disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ authors and readers:
calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
#HongKong: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China comes after a Hong Kong court convicted Jimmy Lai, a newspaper publisher and British citizen, under a national security law that Beijing imposed on the territory after massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
31.01.2026 18:30 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1
When police raided the Apple Daily newsroom in 2021, journalists across Hong Kong knew this meant more than the collapse of a newspaper.
After the guilty verdict of the paper's publisher, Jimmy Lai, journalists in Hong Kong speak on how his conviction has stifled the city's press:
United States: Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested late Thursday night on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, his lawyer said, in a case rejected last week by a magistrate judge:
30.01.2026 17:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Yesterday, freedom of information requests revealed the #Calgary Board of Education removed 42 books from its libraries and the #Edmonton Public School Board removed 33 in response to an order from Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides.
30.01.2026 16:20 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Here are the secret lists of banned books from Alberta's 2 largest school boards:
www.readtheorchard.org/p/here-are-t...
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Source: Jeremy Appel, The Orchard
Other notable titles banned by the Calgary Board of Education are:
• A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
• George Orwell’s 1984: The Graphic Novel
• The Book of Genesis
• Breakdown: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!
• Introducing the Enlightenment
• Andy Warhol
• Introducing Camus
Jeremy Appel for @thetyee.ca: "CBE and EPSB have both banned Gender Queer and Blankets, but Fun Home was only banned by EPSB...
Neither removed Flamer, which based on the most damning examples the government could find for its news release, does not appear to actually include any portrayal of sex."
Yesterday, freedom for information requests revealed the lists of dozens books removed by two Alberta school boards.
The lists reveal that 42 titles were removed by one board, and 33 titles by the other.
Graphic novels are the focus of the full list of prohibited book: thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...
Dr. Margaret MacMillan is emeritus Professor of History at the University of Toronto and emeritus Professor of International History at the University of Oxford.
Her most recent book is War: How Conflict Shaped Us (2020). She gave the CBC Massey lectures in 2015 and the BBC Reith lectures in 2018.
Our friends at the International Issues Discussion Series invite you to its second talk of 2026, “What is a World Order?" with Dr. Margaret MacMillan.
Her talk will be held on Wednesday, February 4 at 6:30 pm in Toronto. Attendance is free and everyone is welcome:
iid.kislenko.com/what-is-a-wo...
We invite you to explore an indispensable resource – PEN International’s handbook, A Guide to Defending Writers at Risk.
This manual is designed for PEN members, supporters and activists to plan and implement advocacy, campaigning, and media strategy in the fight for human rights.
buff.ly/XhkB8k0
Ottawa caved to the White House’s backlash against Canada’s Big Tech regulations in June 2025, when Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne cancelled a proposed digital service tax at Trump’s behest.
Now, Canada is weighing Trump’s reaction as it writes new online safety laws:
