General Meeting will take place online on Thursday, June 12 at 5:30 pm EDT, on Zoom. All PEN Canada members are encouraged to attend, and RSVP is required. A full AGM ...

Step into an afternoon of inspiration and storytelling as we present Voices of Freedom at Hirut Jazz Cafe in Toronto’s east end. This reading series, hosted by the Writers in Exile group of PEN Canada ...

For more than a decade, the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award has recognized excellence in emerging, yet-to-be published Canadian writers. The 2025 prize is currently open for submissions — unpublished ...

Writers gather for sessions on the climate emergency and war. The 57th International Meeting of the Writers for Peace Committee this month hosted powerful witness and action in response to conflict ...

Do Canadian media truly reflect the voices and colours of everyone who lives here? They claim to embrace diversity, yet too often stage it as a spectacle: “Show us how you paint,” or “Tell us about ...

This letter first appeared in our March 2025 newsletter. You can subscribe to PEN Canada’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest free expression news and hear about our PEN community. Now, more ...

Amid rising political tensions between the U.S. and Canada, and escalating threats of a broader trade war, the downstream effects of tariffs on writers, readers, publishers, and booksellers will be ...

The annual award supports and celebrates emerging talent in Canadian literature. Unpublished writers are encouraged to submit short stories, creative nonfiction, journalism, and poetry. The ...

Nancy Huggett reads from her collection as she accepts her 2024 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award at a ceremony in October 2024. “To find the form that accommodates the mess, that’s the task of the ...

Dear President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, We, a group of leaders from human rights organizations, writers, and public media figures, appeal to you to grant clemency to Egyptian-British writer Alaa ...

PEN Canada was founded in 1983. We are a nonpartisan organization of writers and readers. One of our central roles is to defend the right to freedom of expression. We raise our voices against domestic ...

Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, whether you are a librarian, bookseller, educator, student, or ...