Tokarczuk, Sonmez, Kurkov, Shehadeh and others at ‘Freedom of Words – Words of the Free’: PEN International’s 91st Congress in Kraków, Poland
Elif Shafak and Burhan Sonmez at PEN International’s 90th Congress, Oxford, UK. © Roberk Brooks
12 August 2025: 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 — will bring 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.
This year’s public events programme includes evening discussions open to audiences in Kraków, featuring internationally renowned writers such as Olga Tokarczuk, Raja Shehadeh, Adam Michnik, Andrei Kurkov, and Margaret Atwood (online), alongside leading voices from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Lithuania, and more.
REGISTER
Admission to the events is possible with free tickets. Tickets are available at the following link: https://kbfbilety.krakow.pl/kategorie/pen
Public Programme
1 September, 20:00, The Potocki Palace
New Voices, Shared Futures
A dynamic opening evening led by PEN International’s Young Writers Committee in collaboration with the Tomorrow Club, celebrating emerging voices and visions for a shared literary future.
2 September, 17:30, The Kijów Cinema
Opening Ceremony- Memory, Migration and Myth in Contemporary Fiction
A conversation between Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk and PEN International President Burhan Sonmez exploring how fiction navigates psychological, historical, and political terrains in a time of mass displacement and digital myth-making. Featuring a virtual address by celebrated Canadian author, PEN International Vice President Margaret Atwood.
3 September, 20:00, International Cultural Centre
PEN in the Age of Anxiety
A timely conversation on freedom of expression in times of repression, authoritarianism, polarisation, and war—and literature’s potential to counter fear and forge resilience, with President of PEN Ukraine Volodymyr Yermolenko, Executive Director of PEN Georgia Natasha Lomouri, and Editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Adam Michnik. Chaired by Polish journalist Agnieszka Lichnerowicz.
4 September, 20:00, The Manggha Museum
Free Word in Free Eastern Europe
A discussion with Ukrainian writer and former president of PEN Ukraine Andrei Kurkov, President of PEN Belarus Taciana Niadbaj, and Lithuanian author and historian Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, chaired by Polish journalist Adam Szostkiewicz, on the state of free expression in Central and Eastern Europe amid rising nationalism and the war in Ukraine.
5 September, 20:00, The Manggha Museum
Vanishing Landscape
Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist Raja Shehadeh in conversation with Polish sociologist and journalist Ludwika Włodek. A powerful closing event reflecting on the changing physical and political landscape of Palestine—exploring memory, resistance, nationalism, identity politics, and decolonisation through literature.
Note to Editors:
To schedule an interview or for comments and media queries, please contact:
● Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager, [email protected]
● Justyna Czechowska, Polish PEN Club Board Member, [email protected]
● Marcelina Karcz, KBF Literary Officer, [email protected]
● Anna Szczygieł, KBF Press Officer, [email protected]
About PEN International
PEN International is the foremost and largest association of writers, standing at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect freedom of expression around the world. Founded in London in 1921, PEN International – PEN’s Secretariat – connects an international community of writers. Operating across five continents through more than 130 Centres in over 100 countries, PEN International is a forum where writers meet freely to discuss their work, and a powerful voice speaking out for writers silenced in their own countries.
About Polish PEN Club
Polish PEN Club was founded in Warsaw in 1925. Its founder, Stefan Żeromski, was a writer committed to creating in Poland a strong democratic culture based on freedom of expression, pluralism and liberty. For a hundred years now, Polish PEN Club has worked to promote these values, celebrating the role of literature in fostering democracy and acting as a powerful voice on behalf of writers. Polish PEN Club is a place of free intellectual debate and a vibrant literary community, supporting creativity, literary translation and exchange of ideas.