Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 14h

Light refreshments will be provided and books will be available for purchase.

The evening will open with brief readings by the 2025 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award winners: Georgio Russell & Anna Sokolova, setting the stage for Canisia’s featured reading from her highly anticipated new work.

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 14h

Event announcement 📚

Join us on November 13 for an evening with Canisia Lubrin, in a conversation with Souvankham Thammavongsa, as we celebrate Lubrin’s forthcoming book The World After Rain.

Tickets: buff.ly/AgafNX9

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 1d

This event features voices from #Turkey, #Iran, #Ecuador, and elsewhere.

Full slate of readers will be announced next week.

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 1d

Come hear new work by #writers, novelists, filmmakers and journalists who live in exile in Canada.

🗓️ Wednesday, November 12, 2025
⏰ 7:00 (Doors open at 6:30)
📍 Beeton Hall, Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street)
🎟️ Free tickets available on Eventbrite:

www.eventbrite.ca/e/voices-of-...

Voices of Freedom reading at Toronto Reference Library

www.eventbrite.ca

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Reposted by PEN Canada

PEN International @peninternational.bsky.social · 1d

Two years since armed Palestinian groups' attacks, where some 1200 Israelis, including civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage.

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OPT/Israel: There is no safe place in Gaza. Impose an arms embargo and end the genocide now — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide

“Genocide is the ultimate form of silencing. The ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality is at the core of PEN International’s mission. World leaders must respond to the gravity of the ongo...

www.pen-international.org

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 5d

Tickets are SOLD OUT for our event with renowned Jamaican writer, Olive Senior.

If you grabbed a ticket, we'll see you next week:

📅 October 8th, 2025 at 6 pm (doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
📍 D.G. Ivey Library, at the University of Toronto (20 Willcocks Street)

pencanada.ca/event/an-eve...

An Evening with Jamaican writer, Olive Senior - PEN Canada

A conversation with the award-winning Jamaican poet and novelist. SOLD OUT / No tickets remaining.

pencanada.ca

Reposted by PEN Canada

PEN International @peninternational.bsky.social · 5d

A verdict is expected on 6 October in the preposterous case against Yavuz Ekinci. He faces years in prison on terror propaganda grounds for his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). We urge #Türkiye to drop all charges and to uphold the freedom to create.
www.pen-international.org/news/trkiye-...

Türkiye: Writer Yavuz Ekinci on trial again as spurious terror-propaganda case resumes — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide

‘That Kurdish writer Yavuz Ekinci finds himself in court again for his writings after the case against him was dismissed exposes the authorities of Türkiye’s pernicious pursuit of those who dare explo...

www.pen-international.org

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 6d

Read more in this story by Lidiia Karpenko, a Ukrainian journalist and PEN Writer in Exile: buff.ly/vYUqpyd

A Ukrainian journalist shares his story of survival in Russian captivity

Dmytro Khyliuk says the memory of 1,271 days of suffering will stay with him forever

buff.ly

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 6d

“The Kremlin stole my life.”

That’s how #Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk sums up his feelings after three years’ imprisonment in a Russian correctional colony.

Although he is finally free, he says the memory of 1,271 days of physical and psychological suffering will stay with him forever.

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 7d

‘By isolating Afghanistan from the outside world and denying millions the ability to communicate and engage in online expression, the Taliban risks plunging the country into darkness.," said Romana Cacchioli of PEN International.

"This shutdown must be reversed immediately."

Afghanistan: Taliban imposes nationwide communications blackout, cutting off millions from the outside world — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide

‘ The ongoing internet shutdown is a grave escalation of the Taliban’s longstanding efforts to silence any form of expression it disagrees with. By isolating Afghanistan from the outside world and…

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 7d

What can we learn about book banning from the 400 years of the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books?

📅 Tonight, James L. Turk and historian Robin Vose address the lessons we can learn from four centuries of failed attempts at institutional censorship.

Get the Zoom link: buff.ly/KACNu2n

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 7d

These webinars are free to attend. They are designed for young and emerging writers to explore craft and purpose as an author.

We'll see you tonight at 8 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. PST.

events.zoom.us/ev/AisuMBE8C...

Writing out of the Abyss: Black Literature's Creative Rebellions

events.zoom.us

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 7d

Tonight our webinar series kicks off with our first session, featuring Roger Reeves, Georgio Russell and Esi Edugyan.

Register here: buff.ly/iqXuj0w

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 15d

We have a webinar series for writers!

Tune in throughout October to explore what draws you to the page. Through conversations between emerging #writers and their #mentors, collaborators or award-winning peers:

Drawn to the Page: a webinar series - PEN Canada

A three-part webinar series for young writers, to develop your craft and purpose as an author. Registration is required. All are welcome.

pencanada.ca

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 8d

The RCMP wanted a photojournalist kept in custody for months after Mounties alleged she assaulted a sheriff following her high-profile arrest at a 2021 Wet’suwet’en pipeline standoff.

More from the civil suit filed by Amber Bracken and The Narwhal:

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

RCMP tried to get photojournalist Amber Bracken charged and detained without bail, documents show

Bracken was arrested in 2021 after Mounties removed protesters blocking access to a Coastal GasLink construction site in B.C.

www.theglobeandmail.com

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 12d

"My fascination with Missed Connections isn’t because I’m waiting for a response on a post about someone I passed on a sidewalk...

I read them because it feels like I’m bearing witness to the very human urge to try and figure out how to write into silence. How to archive a void."

Missing Persons and Missed Connections

Em Dial on archives and invitations of silence.

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 12d

📰 New piece by Canadian #author and previous PEN New Voices Award winner, Deepa Rajagopalan:

English PEN @englishpen.bsky.social · 12d

'What if I could give words to this strange, unmoored sense of belonging – of belonging nowhere and also anywhere?'

In #PENTransmissions, Deepa Rajagopalan on creating space at the centre. In partnership with @pencanada.bsky.social.
pentransmissions.com/2025/09/26/t...

There Is Never One English

Deepa Rajagopalan on creating space at the centre.

pentransmissions.com

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Reposted by PEN Canada

University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA @uguelphcwmfa.bsky.social · 14d

Exciting news! Our own MFA student #EmDial will be participating in @pencanada.bsky.social’s “Drawn to the Page” webinar series this October!

Join Em and other talented writers as they explore craft, purpose, and how writers can respond to the social and political challenges of our time.

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Reposted by PEN Canada

English PEN @englishpen.bsky.social · 15d

We're incredibly relieved that Alaa Abd el-Fattah has finally been released from prison. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported Alaa and his family over these difficult years.
www.englishpen.org/posts/campai...

Laila Soueif, Alaa Abd el-Fattah and Sanaa Seif embrace at home, surrounded by friends, following Alaa's release from prison.

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 15d

We have a webinar series for writers!

Tune in throughout October to explore what draws you to the page. Through conversations between emerging #writers and their #mentors, collaborators or award-winning peers:

Drawn to the Page: a webinar series - PEN Canada

A three-part webinar series for young writers, to develop your craft and purpose as an author. Registration is required. All are welcome.

pencanada.ca

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 15d

This event includes writers Farzana Doctor, Jamal Saeed, Mostafa Al-A'sar and Saima S Hussain at the Toronto Reference Library.

🎟️ Ticket registration is required: buff.ly/VbBLpaB

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 16d

Upcoming free event 📅

On Friday October 10, Toronto Public Library and PEN Canada present an intimate literary evening that celebrates the rich diversity of Islamic perspectives and experiences through the power of storytelling and verse.

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Reposted by PEN Canada

PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 16d

The pardon of jailed Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah corrects a deep injustice. PEN America calls for El-Fattah to be released and reunited with his family, and to be allowed to continue his life and work without restrictions. Full statement: pen.org/press-releas...

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 16d

Israel’s targeted strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on September 10 have killed 31 journalists and media support workers.

Read more from the Committee to Project Journalists:

buff.ly/yLvDlO2

Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years - Committee to Protect Journalists

Washington, D.C., September 19, 2025—Israel’s targeted strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which killed 31 journalists and media support workers on September 10, signal that…

cpj.org

PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 16d

Writers Farzana Doctor, Jamal Saeed, Mostafa Al-A'sar and Saima S Hussain will share unique insights through prose and personal narrative that illuminate the breadth and depth of contemporary Islamic voices in literature.

🎟️ Ticket registration is required for this free event: buff.ly/VbBLpaB

Uplifting Islamic Voices: An Evening of Readings

A special literary evening that celebrates the rich diversity of Islamic perspectives and experiences through the power of storytelling.

buff.ly

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PEN Canada @pencanada.bsky.social · 16d

Upcoming free event 📅

On Friday October 10, Toronto Public Library and PEN Canada present an intimate literary evening that celebrates the rich diversity of Islamic perspectives and experiences through the power of storytelling and verse.

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Reposted by PEN Canada

PEN International @peninternational.bsky.social · 16d

#Egypt: We welcome reports that British-Egyptian writer, activist & PEN's case Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been granted a presidential pardon after 6 years unjustly imprisoned for his words. We await his release and will be monitoring the situation in the coming days. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah to be freed from prison

Reports say writer, who has served six years for liking a Facebook post, has also been given a presidential pardon

www.theguardian.com

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