Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Monday 15 November
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location
wheelercentre.com
For 100 years, PEN has been committed to defending the freedom of all people to express ideas without fear of attack, arrest, murder or other forms of persecution. This centenary arrives at a time when borders are closing, authoritarianism is ascendant and the voices of many are silenced. In the face of this opposition, PEN continues to uphold the fundamental role of literature as a force for change, in bringing together people of diverse experiences, fostering understanding and inspiring conversations across cultures.
In this special event, held on the international Day of the Imprisoned Writer, join an assembly of voices and languages as we pay tribute to the work of PEN and rejoice in the power of the written word. Featuring readings and reflections from Arnold Zable, Shokoofeh Azar, Hidayet Ceylan, Jackie Mansourian, Anna Takluem and Chris Lwin. Hosted by PEN Melbourne Ambassador Sami Shah.
Presented in partnership with PEN Melbourne and supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. Help support PEN's campaigns to defend persecuted and imprisoned writers.
Featuring
Arnold Zable
Arnold Zable is a highly acclaimed novelist, storyteller and human rights advocate. His works include Scraps of Heaven, Violin Lessons, The Fighter, which was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and a New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award, and his most recent work The Watermill. Zable lives in Melbourne.
Shokoofeh Azar
Shokoofeh Azar is an Iranian-Australian journalist and author, living in Australia since 2010 as an asylum seeker. She is the author of The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree which was published in 2017 ...
Hidayet Ceylan
Hidayet Ceylan was born in Sivas, Turkey in 1964. He lived in Ankara after age five until migrating to Australia in 1997. He studied Mining Engineering in Turkey. Hidayet started writing poetry after 2001 and he was inspired by Alevi spirituality poets like Yunus Emre, Pir Sultan Abdal and Nesimi. He was also inspired by Joseph Campbell, Erich Fromm, Paulo Freire, Victor Frankl and Frantz Fanon.
Hidayet was awarded second prize in the poetry and short story competition held by UCLA – Paulo Freire Institute in 2007. His poems were published bilingually in various anthologies, magazines and newspapers in the USA, Turkey and Australia. He published a poetry book called Transformation to Human Being in 2011.
Chris Lwin
Chris Lwin is a law student at Deakin University in Melbourne and he served as a student representative at the University in 2021. A member of Victorian Myanmar Youth, he has been actively fighting for Myanmar people's freedom through advocacy, fundraising and lobbying with the team.
Sami Shah
Sami Shah is a multi-award winning comedian, writer, and journalist. Sami is a lecturer in journalism at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism, and is the Ambassador-at-Large for PEN Melbourne.
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Nedim Türfent
The PEN Empty Chair is for PEN Melbourne honorary member Nedim Türfent, a Kurdish poet and journalist. Nedim has spent 2000 days in a Turkish prison on the unjust charge of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’.