Does Sydney PEN only work for persecuted writers overseas?
No, we work in Australia, too. Freedom of expression – a fundamental human right – is always under threat, even in Australia. Sydney PEN is vigilant about preserving our rights. While we thankfully don’t imprison writers (although we have helped free refugee writers from our own detention centres), there are more subtle but continual and dangerous moves to restrict freedom of expression in our own country. Our members keep a watchful eye and take real action on political developments such as sedition and anti-terrorism laws, suppression of academic freedom, arts funding linked to restrictions on artistic content, and so on. We also highlight cases of Australian writers who have been incarcerated or threatened overseas for their work. We celebrate the freedom of expression we do have in this country with readings, lectures, publications, awards and other literary events. Our focus on encouraging and generating Translation is an important part of our promotion of the free exchange of wor
