Annual Congress

Since 1923, PEN International has hosted 91 Congresses, with over 130 Centres from over 100 countries, bringing together up to 400 writers and opinion-makers.

Held under the banner “Freedom of Words – Words of the Free”, PEN International’s 91st Congress — hosted in partnership with Polish PEN from 2 to 5 September 2025 in Kraków, Poland — brought together writers and PEN Centres from around the world to explore the future of literature in the face of war, censorship, disinformation, and displacement—and the new visions and solidarities that can shape a shared literary future.

91st PEN International Congress:
Freedom of Words
Words of the Free

Unbound Voices: Samira Mohyeddin in Conversation with PEN International

Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Samira Mohyeddin sits down with writers and delegates at PEN International’s 91st Congress to explore today’s most urgent issues – from book bans and climate justice to LGBTQ+ rights, women’s voices, Indigenous perspectives, and much more.

Click below to uncover the pressing issues affecting freedom of expression across the globe.

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Olga Tokarczuk Foundation - Ukraine Appeal

At the 91st PEN International Congress in Kraków, Olga Tokarczuk — Nobel laureate and Vice President of PEN International — called on writers, publishers, and literary agents from around the world to travel to Ukraine, to meet readers face to face, and to show solidarity with those who continue to defend culture.

Speaking on behalf of the Olga Tokarczuk Foundation, she reflected on how Ukraine’s literary life has not only survived but flourished despite the devastation of war, proof of the social and emotional role that reading plays in moments of crisis and fear.

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More from PEN International’s Congress

Look back at PEN International’s 90th Congress
Photo Credit: Roberk Brooks

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Our Congress

More than just the Annual General Meeting, Congress serves as a pivotal platform for the global PEN community to engage in discussions on contemporary issues, literature, and freedom of expression.

Each Congress is characterised by a unique theme set by the host PEN Centre, reflecting the pressing issues relevant to its members and the region.

  • Held under the banner “Freedom of Words – Words of the Free”, PEN International’s 91st Congress — hosted in partnership with Polish PEN from 2 to 5 September 2025 in Kraków, Poland — brought together writers and PEN Centres from around the world to explore the future of literature in the face of war, censorship, disinformation, and displacement—and the new visions and solidarities that can shape a shared literary future.

  • ‘Writers in a World at War’, PEN International’s 90th Annual Congress in Oxford, UK, 24–27 Sept 2024.

    This year, PEN delegates from over 90 countries will discuss key questions against the backdrop of current global crises, including the importance of the PEN Charter, ‘promoting the value of literature’, and the future of PEN’s principles and solidarity mission for generations to come.

  • PEN International’s 89th Annual Congress took place between 26-28th September 2023 online. The theme was The Truth of Fiction and the Fiction of Reality and delved into, questioned, and confronted the evolving notions of truth and reality in our contemporary world, set against the backdrop of a growing tide of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda.

    PEN Congress 2023 in Numbers

  • PEN International’s 88th Congress: THE POWER OF WORDS – Future Challenges for Freedom of Expression took place in Uppsala from 27 September – 1 October 2022, hosted by Swedish PEN. The week-long programme brought together 400 writers from over 100 PEN Centres, to debate, challenge and reinterpret PEN’s understanding of issues such as hate speech, digital surveillance, climate change, war and post-conflict, as well PEN’s work moving forward.

    Read the Country Report.

    Congress in Numbers 2022.

  • PEN International held its 87th Centenary Congress, from 20‒24 September 2021. Themed One Hundred Years of Intellectual Debate and Activism on Freedom of Expression and Literature, it celebrated the organisation’s first 100-year anniversary.

    Congress in Numbers 2021.

  • PEN International held its 86th Annual Congress, its first-ever digital Congress and marked the beginning of our one-year journey towards PEN’s Centenary in 2021.

    2020 has been a challenging year in many respects, particularly for freedom of expression as the global COVID-19 pandemic locked borders, restricted travel, with many governments taking advantage of the situation to impose further limits on free expression.

    From 2 to 6 November 2020, 296 participants from 90 PEN Centres gathered online to examine and debate the challenges to free expression around the world.

  • From 30 September until 4 October 2019, more than 200 writers and PEN members gathered in Manila, Philippines for the 85th annual PEN Congress - ‘Speaking in Tongues’ - centred on literary freedom and the promotion of indigenous languages.

    Writers from over 50 countries from across the world came together to promote and celebrate linguistic Public report on the 85th Congress in Manila, Philippines.diversity, highlight cases of imprisoned writers and discussed PEN’s response to the increasing challenges facing free expression across the world today.

    Read the Country Report.

    Public report on the 85th Congress in Manila, Philippines.

  • The 84th PEN International Congress closed on 29th October 2018 in Pune, India with a focus on the critical situation for freedom of expression in India, the representation and voices of women in literature and the life and legacy of Mohandas Gandhi and his wife Kasturba.

    More than 400 writers from over 80 countries gathered in Pune for the annual PEN Congress, for a week of debates, literary events and workshops.

    Read the Country Report.

    Public report on the 84th Congress in Pune, India.

  • The 2017 Congress, hosted by PEN Ukraine, was attended by over 200 writers and PEN members from 60 Centres across the globe.

    An extensive programme of public events was held across the city and online, around themes that included history and memory, rights of women and equality, cyber provocations, truth and fake news, and threats to freedom of speech across the world. Prominent guests included Madeleine Thien, Paul Auster, Philippe Sands, Adam Zagajewski, Yaroslav Hrytsak, David Patrikarakos, Andrei Kurkov and many more.

    Read the Country Report.

    Public Report of the 83rd PEN International Congress in Lviv, 2017.

  • The 82nd PEN International Congress in Ourense, Spain took place from the 26th September – 2nd October 2016 with a focus on the situation for freedom of expression in Galicia, creating the cultural bridges (with focus on Ibero-America), and the representation and voices of writers who are persecuted for their sexual orientation (Outwrite project).