PEN Perth is a chapter of PEN International, working at the intersection of writing and politics. PEN International was founded in London in 1921 and now has 150 centres worldwide.
PEN Perth is active on local and international issues — including Indigenous incarceration, refugee detention, and a free press — and campaigns for the release of wrongfully imprisoned writers. It advocates responsible freedom of expression, raises public awareness, and promotes a world where writers can speak freely and respectfully.
At the apex of PEN Perth’s activities, we are involved with a number of other centres to ensure the release of writers and journalists who have been wrongfully imprisoned. This means being advocates for those who are in jail and working towards their release into a society that is safe and values them and their work.
We promote campaigns where we ‘adopt’ writers at risk and raise awareness of their situations. We do this by writing to imprisoned writers, their families, their embassies or their support networks and encouraging others to join these activities.
At our events, and those of our partners, we keep an empty chair as a powerful symbol of writers who are imprisoned, persecuted, or missing due to their work. This chair serves as a reminder that these writers — whose voices have been silenced — should be present among us, sharing their words and ideas. By acknowledging the Empty Chair, we honour their courage, draw attention to their plight, and reaffirm our commitment to defending freedom of expression worldwide.
