Freedom of Words – Words of the Free: Highlights from PEN International’s 91st Congress in Kraków, Poland
Image Credit: Katarzyna Kukielka
“At this Congress in Kraków we saw the importance of our shared mission. Writers from across the world came together to defend freedom of expression, to stand with those silenced by war, censorship, and exile, and to make sure that words remain free. Our solidarity and our words are our greatest strength.” Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
11 September 2025: PEN International concluded its 91st Congress in Kraków, Poland, on 5 September 2025 – hosted in partnership with Polish PEN – held under the banner “Freedom of Words – Words of the Free.” Congress serves as a reminder of the enduring power of literature to resist repression, to bear witness, and to imagine alternatives in the face of crisis.
Key decisions and announcements
The 91st Congress was marked by major decisions and announcements for the PEN movement, including the appointment of Olga Tokarczuk, literary giant, activist, and Nobel Prize-winning Polish author, as Vice President of PEN International.
At its Assembly of Delegates, PEN International adopted four urgent resolutions. These have: called on writers to defend human rights and free expression amid rampant authoritarianism and global conflict; urged writers and governments to address the climate crisis as the human rights issue of our time; affirmed the protection of trans and gender-diverse people’s right to free expression and inclusion; and defended free expression in the United States.
In addition, delegates approved a Manifesto on the Protection of Climate, signed by award-winning writers including Burhan Sonmez, Jennifer Clement, and Olga Tokarczuk, among others. The manifesto underscored the urgency of the climate emergency and its inextricable link to freedom of expression and human rights.
Final key moments included the re-election of Arne Svingen as International Secretary, and the election of Mads Julius Elf as Board Member. PEN Spain, PEN Languages of Russia, Low German and Frisian PEN, and PEN Syria, were officially recognised as the newest PEN Centres.
As part of this year’s Congress, PEN Poland celebrated its Centenary, marking 100 years of dedicated literary activism and a steadfast commitment to defending freedom of expression.
Panels and events
PEN International’s 91st Congress brought together writers, activists, and literary figures from across the globe, including Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel Laureate and Vice President of PEN International; Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President and novelist; and Margaret Atwood, Canadian author and PEN Vice President.
The 91st Congress also featured Volodymyr Yermolenko, President of PEN Ukraine; Natasha Lomouri, Executive Director of PEN Georgia; Adam Michnik, Editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza; Taciana Niadbaj, President of PEN Belarus; Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, Lithuanian author and historian; Marek Radziwon, President of the Polish PEN Club; Pavlo Bylik, Ukrainian poet and PEN International Secretariat member; and Raja Shehadeh, Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist, in conversation with Ludwika Włodek, Polish sociologist and journalist. Discussions explored themes of memory, migration, repression, nationalism, war, resilience, identity, and decolonisation—highlighting literature’s power to confront and reimagine these challenges.
Other highlights included several panel discussions between award-winning writers and delegates from PEN Centres around the world. Literature Knows No Frontiers, moderated by Justyna Czechowska, Polish PEN Club Board Member, translator and literary activist, brought together Belarusian writers Alhierd Bacharevic, novelist and translator, and Julia Cimafiejeva, poet and translator, exploring the resilience of literature across borders.
Imagining Futures: PEN, Literature, and Climate Reckoning, moderated by Angela Christofidou, President of PEN Cyprus and poet, featured Kulleh Grasi, multidisciplinary indigenous artist from Malaysia, Lyz Jama Sáenz, poet and member of PEN Chiapas, and Nduko O Matigere, Head of PEN International’s Africa Region and Kenyan social justice activist, reflecting on the linkages between climate change and other critical social justice issues.
The Freedom to Publish: Resistance, Risk, and Radical Imagination, moderated by Ronald Blunden, editor, publisher, and founding member of PEN’s Publishers Circle, included Giovanni Hoepli, Vice President of International Publishers Association, Kerstin Almegård, President of PEN Sweden, Ayi Renaud Dossavi, poet and Chair of PEN International’s Young Writers Committee from Togo, and PEN Guatemala’s Miguel Angel Oxlaj Cúmez, poet, writer, and scholar, discussing the need for courage, resilience and creativity in the face of burgeoning censorship and risk.
Other panels included Cultural Erasure, moderated by multi-award-winning journalist, producer, and broadcaster Samira Mohyeddin, with Ishraga Mustafa, Sudanese/Austrian writer and founder of aspiring PEN Sudan, Mayyu Ali, Rohingya poet and writer, Mahmoud Muna, Palestinian writer, publisher and bookseller (joining online), and Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/Pacific Region at PEN International, focusing on the preservation of marginalised cultures.
Centering Indigenous Literature and Culture in Global Conversations, moderated by Miguel Angel Oxlaj Cúmez, and featuring Lyz Sáenz, Kulleh Grasi and Keyuk Yantén, translator, teacher and cultural advisor from Chile, showcased the vital contributions of Indigenous writers to global literary dialogues.
Note to Editors:
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