Imagine
a world in which freedom ends when expression begins.
Your voice can protect those silenced.
Imagine writing a song and never coming home. Imagine a poem being called evidence. Imagine your notebook used against you in court. Imagine your last post being your last day of freedom.
This is not imagination. This is happening now.
To the poet. To the journalist. To the novelist. To the playwright. To the activist.
To people just like us.
They are persecuted for their words. Now they need our support.
Stand for every voice. A poet under arrest. A journalist disappeared. A rapper in a cell.
Expression under threat anywhere is expression under threat everywhere.
Act now to free words under threat. Stand between freedom of expression and persecution.
Defend the right of every person to think, create and be heard.
Your gift protects every voice being silenced.
Choose your monthly gift
Where your donation goes
Research and Reporting
We publish new research on how governments silence critics through transnational repression and its impact on free speech.
Global Campaigns
We run global campaigns for World Poetry Day, World Press Freedom Day, Human Rights Day, and other key moments.
Civil Society Programme
We support PEN centres in conflict and post-conflict countries, as well as PEN Centres in exile, including PEN Afghanistan, PEN Eritrea, and PEN Nicaragua, where commissioned literary writings reflect on peace, exile, memory, and activism.
Emergency Support for Writers at Risk
We provide urgent, direct support to writers at risk, including emergency financial assistance through Emergency Grants.
International Advocacy
We intervene before global human rights forums on countries where freedom of expression is under threat, including Belarus, Georgia, and Venezuela.