An excerpt from Burn This Book by PEN writers is presented in LiteratureBlog.net. The excerpt, entitled “Peril”, was written by Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison. The peril referred to is that of writers being unable to pursue their work, due to persecution and censorship by authoritarian regimes. The essay explains why we need writers and why they need to be protected. The PEN American Center is an association of U.S. writers advancing literature and defending free expression. International PEN is a related association for writers of all cultures.
Another independent journalist, Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet has been imprisoned in Cuba. “Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 5/17/09“, as reported in the blog Uncommon Sense. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for “disrespect,” one of the Orwellian catch-all “crimes” the dictatorship uses to try to silence and punish those who oppose it, according to this RSF article. The organisation English PEN, supporting writers around the world, protests his arrest, and reports that he was denied a fair trial and access to a lawyer.
Pham Thanh Nghien
As reported on their website,”The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN is alarmed by reports that imprisoned writers Nguyen Hoang Hai and Pham Thanh Nghien (f) are at risk of ill-treatment, in poor health, and denied full access to family visits.” The article names five other writers who are still detained. A website, Free Them Now, describes the crackdown on democracy activists in Vietnam, and includes Pham Thanh Nghien’s Open Letter, written before her arrest. Her picture (courtesy of ThanhNienLacViet) is from the website Radio Free Vietnam. The arrests are contrary to United Nations’ Article 19, to which Vietnam is a signatory.
