رسالة الرئيس ( السيدة / غريس ويستكوت، رئيسة منظمة القلم الكندية )
بالانجليزية ثم ترجمتها اللعربية :
President's Message
More than ever, Free Expression Matters
Now, more than ever, amid mounting authoritarianism in the world, free expression matters.
Many of us no longer feel safe crossing into the US, fearing potentially hostile scrutiny of our social media posts. Authors and publishers face losing the American market for their books – or being unable to afford to publish some of them at all – due to the threats and uncertainty surrounding tariffs and to actual censorship of books in many US schools and libraries. We’ve seen growing efforts to censor books in our own schools and libraries. And we watch, dismayed, as eminent American universities, threatened with the loss of federal funding, cede academic freedom to unconstitutional and illiberal directives from the US administration. We see the American media scorned and attacked by a government that, contrary to all principles of fairness, and with overt disdain for freedom of the press, dispenses fear or favour to the press at will, according to its interests.
Sleeping next to the American elephant, we in Canada cannot but be affected. The times call for us to strenuously assert our belief that free expression matters.
Over one hundred years ago, PEN International was founded in London. It set out its principles in a document – the PEN Charter – restated in the aftermath of World War II, at a time when militaristic nationalism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism called for brave and concerted resistance. Let us recommit to those principles and assert them loudly, repeatedly and together, now, and in the years ahead:
- LITERATURE knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals.
- IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion.
- MEMBERS OF PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favor of good understanding and mutual respect between nations and people; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel all hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world.
- PEN STANDS FOR the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible.
- PEN DECLARES for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organized political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortion of facts for political and personal ends.
With my best
Grace Westcott, PEN Canada President
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| PEN launches its 2025 Case List |
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Starting in 1961, PEN International began to formally record attacks on writers, summarizing who has suffered attack, where and by whom, the legal processes and the motivations behind them. This record-keeping process is now known as the annual Case List.
Now 60 years in, this year's list describes 138 attacks on writers, including one in Canada. |
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| PEN launches its 2025 Case List |
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Starting in 1961, PEN International began to formally record attacks on writers, summarizing who has suffered attack, where and by whom, the legal processes and the motivations behind them. This record-keeping process is now known as the annual Case List.
Now 60 years in, this year's list describes 138 attacks on writers, including one in Canada. |
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| Made in Exile, a series of four films, to be screened at Hot Docs Film Festival |
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From April 24 to May 4, PEN Canada is proud to sponsor the Hot Docs Film Festival's Made in Exile program, featuring work by displaced Sudanese, Ukrainian, Afghan, and Palestinian filmmakers:
Khartoum
Employing green screen storytelling to evocative effect, a group of Sudanese filmmakers empower five of their fellow citizens to re-enact dramatic testimonies of their nation’s descent into civil war and their journeys to neighbouring East Africa seeking refuge.
The Longer You Bleed
What’s the emotional toll of compulsively consuming war imagery on your smartphone? For a group of Gen Z Ukrainians living in Berlin, compassion fatigue and an embrace of absurdist humour are the all-too-relatable byproducts of this uniquely twenty-first century phenomenon.
Writing Hawa
After freeing herself from a constraining 40-year arranged marriage, the filmmaker’s mother hopes for a brighter future, not only for herself but also her daughter and granddaughter, but her dreams are decimated by the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
Yalla Parkour
Seeking connection to her homeland, the director forms a relationship with a young parkour athlete in Gaza. The nostalgia-fuelled journey ultimately reveals the harsh realities facing Palestinians and grows into an exploration of identity, belonging and the haunting legacy of a home left behind.
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| Join us for readings from the Writers in Exile |
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 Sunday, March 30 at 2 p.m.
 Hirut Cafe, 2050 Danforth Ave., Toronto (near Woodbine subway station)
Voices of Freedom returns this weekend to Toronto's east end. Come out to hear stories filled with courage and hope. This time, you'll hear from Tala Motazedi (Iranian screenwriter), Andersson Boscán (Ecuadorian journalist), and Raffi Minas (Syrian-Canadian writer and theatre maker).
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| PEN Canada welcomes Ira Wells onto board of directors |
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We are pleased to announce that Ira Wells has joined the PEN Canada board as a member-at-large. Wells is a critic, essayist, and associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto, where he serves as Academic Programs Director and teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One Program.
His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, Guardian, The New Republic, and many other publications. His most recent book is On Book Banning: How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy. He recently spoke about the growing issue of book bans during an online panel with Jim Turk at the Centre for Free Expression.
| PEN calls for clemency for imprisoned writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah |
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On March 5, PEN Canada joined a coalition of human rights leaders, writers, and public figures in urging the Egyptian authorities to grant clemency to Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Signatories included Arundhati Roy, Elif Shafak, Khalid Abdalla, Mostafa Al-A’sar, Narges Mohammadi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Orhan Pamuk, Phil Klay and Siri Hustvedt, as well as leaders from a host of civil society and regional human rights groups.
The letter was sent at the beginning of Ramadan. With Eid occurring this weekend, and his mother's hunger strike reaching 180 days, we reiterate our call for Alaa to be reunited with his family |
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News from the PEN community- Mostafa Al-A'sar, a member of the PEN Writers in Exile, has been named a JHR Contributing Writer at the Walrus
- Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, former Chair of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee, has published a new thriller, The Far Side of the Desert
- Omar Mouallem, PEN Canada advisory council member, has been named new editor-in-chief of Edify magazine
- Karen Walton, PEN Canada board member, is set to write for an upcoming Netflix limited drama series set in Newfoundland from creator Jesse McKeown
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Opportunities for journalists and writers- Massey College William Southam Journalism Fellow for a mid-career journalist, deadline March 31
- Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary for an early career journalist, deadline May 5
- EU-Canada Young Journalist Fellowship for a journalist or student of journalist between the
- ages 18-30, deadline May 6
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| Algeria: Novelist sentenced to five years in prison |
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Prominent Franco-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal has been sentenced to five years in prison. On March 27, a court in Dar El Beida, near Algiers, handed this sentence to the 80-year-old writer, along with a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730) after he was convicted of national security-related charges.
PEN International is gravely concerned about Sansal’s right to a fair trial and that he has been denied access to a lawyer of his choice.
PEN is also concerned about his health: previously, within one month of his initial arrest in November 2024, he was hospitalized on two separate occasions due to his fragile health. Then, according to media sources, Sansal started a hunger strike in February in protest of his arbitrary imprisonment, raising concerns about his health and well-being in custody while reportedly suffering from cancer.
Our mailing address is:
PEN Canada401 Richmond St W Suite 244 Toronto, ON M5V 3A8Canada |
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En Arabic
رسالة الرئيس
حرية التعبير مهمة أكثر من أي وقت مضى
في ظل تصاعد الاستبداد في العالم، أصبحت حرية التعبير مهمة أكثر من أي وقت مضى.
لم يعد الكثير منا يشعر بالأمان عند دخول الولايات المتحدة، خوفًا من التدقيق العدائي المحتمل لمنشوراتنا على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي. يواجه المؤلفون والناشرون خطر فقدان سوق كتبهم الأمريكية - أو عدم قدرتهم على تحمل تكاليف نشر بعضها - بسبب التهديدات والغموض المحيط بالرسوم الجمركية والرقابة الفعلية على الكتب في العديد من المدارس والمكتبات الأمريكية. لقد شهدنا جهودًا متزايدة لفرض رقابة على الكتب في مدارسنا ومكتباتنا. ونشاهد، في حالة من الفزع، جامعات أمريكية مرموقة، مهددة بفقدان التمويل الفيدرالي، تتنازل عن حريتها الأكاديمية لتوجيهات غير دستورية وغير ليبرالية من الإدارة الأمريكية. نرى وسائل الإعلام الأمريكية تتعرض للازدراء والهجوم من قبل حكومة، على عكس جميع مبادئ العدالة، وبازدراء صريح لحرية الصحافة، تنشر الخوف أو المحاباة على الصحافة كما تشاء، وفقًا لمصالحها.
نحن في كندا، إذ ننام بجانب الفيل الأمريكي، لا يسعنا إلا أن نتأثر. يدعونا العصر إلى تأكيد إيماننا الراسخ بأهمية حرية التعبير.
قبل أكثر من مئة عام، تأسست منظمة القلم الدولية في لندن. وقد حددت مبادئها في وثيقة - ميثاق القلم - أُعيد صياغتها في أعقاب الحرب العالمية الثانية، في وقتٍ دعت فيه القومية العسكرية وكراهية الأجانب والاستبداد إلى مقاومة شجاعة ومنسقة. فلنجدد التزامنا بهذه المبادئ ونؤكدها بصوت عالٍ، مرارًا وتكرارًا، معًا، الآن وفي السنوات القادمة:
الأدب لا يعرف حدودًا، ويجب أن يظل عملة مشتركة بين الناس رغم الاضطرابات السياسية أو الدولية.
في جميع الظروف، وخاصة في زمن الحرب، يجب أن تبقى الأعمال الفنية، إرث البشرية جمعاء، بمنأى عن العواطف الوطنية أو السياسية.
على أعضاء منظمة القلم الدولية في جميع الأوقات استخدام ما لديهم من نفوذ لتعزيز التفاهم والاحترام المتبادل بين الأمم والشعوب. يتعهدون ببذل قصارى جهدهم لتبديد كل الكراهية والدفاع عن المثل الأعلى لإنسانية واحدة تعيش في سلام ومساواة في عالم واحد.
تدافع منظمة القلم عن مبدأ نقل الأفكار دون عوائق داخل كل دولة وبين جميع الدول، ويتعهد الأعضاء بمعارضة أي شكل من أشكال قمع حرية التعبير في البلد والمجتمع الذي ينتمون إليه، وكذلك في جميع أنحاء العالم حيثما كان ذلك ممكنًا.
تعلن منظمة القلم عن تأييدها لحرية الصحافة وتعارض الرقابة التعسفية في زمن السلم. وتؤمن بأن التقدم الضروري للعالم نحو نظام سياسي واقتصادي أكثر تنظيمًا يجعل النقد الحر للحكومات والإدارات والمؤسسات أمرًا ضروريًا. وبما أن الحرية تعني ضبط النفس الطوعي، فإن الأعضاء يتعهدون بمعارضة شرور الصحافة الحرة مثل النشر الكاذب والزيف المتعمد وتشويه الحقائق لأغراض سياسية وشخصية.
غريس ويستكوت، رئيسة منظمة القلم الكندية
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