PEN International and Fondazione Feltrinelli announce the 2026 PEN–Inge Feltrinelli Writing as Resistance Award shortlist and jury
13 October 2026: PEN International and Fondazione Feltrinelli are pleased to announce the jury and shortlist of the PEN–Inge Feltrinelli Writing as Resistance Award. The shortlist highlights the many ways in which literature can resist repression, preserve cultural identity and give voice to marginalised communities. The recipient will be announced during BookCity Milano in November 2026.
The shortlisted writers
Aziz Isa Elkun (Uyghur – China)
Uyghur poet, writer, translator and editor Aziz Isa Elkun lives in forced exile and has been the target of transnational repression. He remains committed to promoting Uyghur literature and defending freedom of expression. In response to the cultural erasure carried out by the government of the People's Republic of China in Xinjiang, he has dedicated his work to bringing the writings of Uyghur poets and authors to international audiences.
Since participating in pro-democracy demonstrations in China in 1989, Aziz Isa Elkun has faced persecution and ultimately fled Xinjiang in 1999. His activism has come at a profound personal cost, with family members detained and his mother coerced into publicly condemning him. As President of Uyghur PEN, he continues to use literature and advocacy to amplify Uyghur voices and defend their right to be heard.
Samay Hamed (Afghanistan)
Samay Hamed is a poet, writer, publisher, composer, filmmaker and Executive Director of PEN Afghanistan. Trained as a medical doctor, he has become one of the leading figures in Afghanistan's literary community and a committed advocate for freedom of expression.
An outspoken critic of the Taliban regime and other extremist groups, he has received numerous national awards and three international prizes in recognition of his commitment to defending free speech. He has championed the rights and voices of Afghan writers, including women, LGBTQI people and linguistic minorities, while supporting writers forced into exile and those who remain in the country. Through his literary and cultural activism, he has consistently resisted attempts to silence independent expression and restrict equality.
Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua)
Nicaraguan poet, novelist, essayist and President of the now suppressed PEN Nicaragua, Gioconda Belli has long combined literature with an ethical commitment to freedom of expression. Alongside her internationally acclaimed literary career, she has consistently advocated for persecuted writers and journalists, denouncing attacks on freedom of expression and defending their right to write freely.
Among her many initiatives was a mission to Venezuela aimed at documenting the systematic attacks against writers and journalists. In recent years, she has been stripped of her nationality and forced into exile, facing criminal charges and reprisals for her writing, activism and work with PEN International.
Miguel Ángel Oxlaj Cúmez (Maya Kaqchikel – Guatemala)
Poet, translator, editor and cultural organiser from the Maya Kaqchikel people of Guatemala, and a member of PEN Guatemala, Miguel Ángel Oxlaj Cúmez has played a fundamental role in connecting literary creation with communities that continue to write, think and imagine the world in Indigenous languages. His work takes place in a context marked by structural racism, exclusion and the historical denial of rights.
Through the written word, he has defended not only Indigenous worldviews, but also the right of Indigenous peoples to exist fully in their own languages, territories and ways of seeing the world. His commitment to the protection of land and linguistic rights places him within the tradition of writers for whom literature is inseparable from collective life.
Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine)
Born in 1961 in Budogoshch, Russian Federation, and having moved with his family to Kyiv in 1963, Andrey Kurkov is one of Ukraine's most distinguished contemporary writers, journalists and screenwriters. The author of more than twenty novels and ten children's books, he has been described by The New York Times as Ukraine's best-known living writer.
Novels such as Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees have earned him international acclaim for his dark humour and his ability to portray Soviet and post-Soviet realities through surreal elements. A member of English PEN, he is also a contributor to numerous international publications, including The New York Times, New Statesman, Libération, Le Monde, Die Welt and Die Zeit.
An activist and critic of Vladimir Putin, Kurkov was declared persona non grata in Russia in 2005. His books were banned there in 2014, and he was later placed on a Kremlin list of pro-Ukrainian activists.
Yavuz Ekinci (Türkiye)
Born in 1979, Yavuz Ekinci is one of the leading authors of contemporary Kurdish Award in 2005 and the Yunus Nadi Award in 2007. His work focuses primarily on the condition of the Kurdish people in Türkiye and has been translated into German, Greek and Kurdish. A PEN International case, Ekinci has faced prosecution and censorship for writing about difficult and contested themes, including Kurdish identity, political persecution and displacement. His novel Dream Divided was banned and he faced ‘terrorist propaganda’ charges in connection with the book. Alongside his literary career, he works as a teacher and as editor of the journal Kurdish Literature. His latest book, Aziz, was published in December 2024.
Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa)
Zukiswa Wanner is a Zambian-born South African novelist, editor, publisher and activist. Her body of work includes five novels, two non-fiction books, four children's books and an extensive editorial portfolio.
Her debut novel, The Madams (2006), was described as "a sharp and hilarious look at Black people on the path to economic emancipation in Johannesburg." She later published Behind Every Successful Man (2008), Men of the South (2010), shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa) in 2011, and London Cape Town Joburg (2014), which won the K. Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award in 2015.
She is also an activist with the Sumud Flotilla, whose participants were intercepted and detained by Israeli security forces.
Leila Guerriero (Argentina)
Leila Guerriero is an Argentine journalist, writer and editor, widely recognised as one of the leading voices in contemporary Spanish-language narrative journalism. For more than three decades, she has documented the political, social and cultural transformations of Latin America, using literary non-fiction to preserve memory, challenge dominant narratives and defend human dignity.
The author of numerous books translated into several languages, Guerriero has helped redefine literary reportage through a style distinguished by rigorous reporting, literary excellence and deep respect for the people whose stories she tells. Alongside her writing, she has made a significant contribution to the development of narrative journalism in Latin America through teaching. As an editor, mentor and long-standing instructor at the Fundación Gabo, she has helped train and inspire new generations of journalists.
Amanuel Asrat, Dawit Isaak, Idris Said "Abu Are" and Fessehaye "Joshua" Yohannes – Group Nomination (Eritrea)
The group nomination recognises one of PEN International long-standing campaigns These writers are among the 12 journalists and authors arbitrarily arrested by the Eritrean authorities and held incommunicado since September 2001. The year 2026 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of their arrest and disappearance. The nomination highlights the persecution they have endured and the literary contributions of four members of the group.
Amanuel Asrat – journalist, poet, art critic and songwriter;
Dawit Isaak – journalist, writer and playwright;
Idris Said "Abu Are" – journalist, writer and translator;
Fessehaye "Joshua" Yohannes – journalist, writer, playwright and poet.
Their literary work was closely connected to the defence of freedom of expression and their criticism of government policies and abuses. Amanuel Asrat’s poetry and literary work contributed to the resurgence of Eritrean poetry, while Idris Said "Abu Are" wrote critically about the government’s language policy. Dawit Isaak and Fessehaye "Joshua" Yohannes were both co-owners of Eritrea’s independent newspaper Setit.
The International Jury
Burhan Sonmez – Kurdish writer from Türkiye and President of PEN International, whose novels have been translated into forty-eight languages.
Tanja Tuma – Slovenian writer and publisher, President of PEN Slovenia and Chair of the Board of PEN International.
Kim Echlin – Canadian writer, author of The Disappeared and Speak, Silence, and a member of the Board of PEN International.
Andrea Bajani – Writer and poet, winner of the 2025 Strega Prize for L’anniversario, and writer in residence at Rice University in Houston.
Paolo Giordano – Writer and contributor to Corriere della Sera, winner of the Strega Prize for The Solitude of Prime Numbers, and author of Tasmania. Member of PEN Rome.
Widad Tamimi – Journalist and writer of Palestinian and Jewish heritage, founder of IOIEN, an association that provides scholarships to young people fleeing war. For Feltrinelli she wrote Dal fiume al mare.
Note to Editors:
The PEN–Inge Feltrinelli Writing as Resistance Award is a partnership between PEN International and Fondazione Feltrinelli, presented as part of the Inge Feltrinelli Prize. It reflects their shared commitment to supporting writers who use the written word to advance civic engagement, defend human rights and challenge oppression. Open to writers of all nationalities, the 2026 edition recognises writers whose work challenges oppression, amplifies silenced voices and demonstrates courage and solidarity in defending freedom of expression and human rights.
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Head of Communications and Campaigns, PEN International: [email protected]