Skip to content
  • Common Currency
  • Campaigns
    • PENWrites
    • Writers at Risk
    • Writers in Residence
    • Free speech in the UK
  • News
  • Events
  • Translation
    • PEN Translates
    • PEN Transmissions
    • International Translation Day
    • The World Bookshelf
      • Books
      • Authors
      • Translators
    • PEN Presents
      • Issues
      • Books
      • Apply to PEN Presents
  • Prizes
    • PEN Pinter Prize
    • PEN Ackerley Prize
    • PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize
  • Donate
  • Join
Home > Campaigns > PEN Pinter winner Mazen Darwish to visit UK

PEN Pinter winner Mazen Darwish to visit UK

Journalist and lawyer Mazen Darwish was released from prison last August, after three years in detention in Syria. Founding director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression (SCM), and a leading human rights activist, he was subjected to torture and enforced disappearance.

His wife, the journalist and activist Yara Bader, led the campaign for Mazen Darwish’s release. In 2015, Human Rights Watch awarded her the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

In 2014, Salman Rushdie chose Mazen Darwish as the recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize for an international writer of courage. In his acceptance speech, smuggled out of Adra Prison, Mazen Darwish called for a new social contract that ‘frees Syria from tyranny … cleanses her soil of terrorism, and saves our children from the perils of sectarianism’.

English PEN and our colleagues at PEN International are honoured to be hosting Mazen Darwish and Yara Bader on their first trip to the UK.

 

Sunday 17 July, Citadel Festival (4.30 – 5.15pm)

Mazen Darwish and Yara Bader will join the writer and artist Zaher Omareen for a discussion on free speech, culture and resistance with the BBC’s Razia Iqbal.

Hosted by English PEN and PEN International, with thanks to Citadel Festival

Book tickets

 

Monday 18 July, Free Word Centre (7pm)

Mazen Darwish and Yara Bader will talk about their experience of the uprising in Syria and their fight for the protection of human rights in a discussion chaired by English PEN Director Jo Glanville.

Hosted by Amnesty International UK, English PEN and PEN International

Book tickets

 

Tuesday 19 July, Houses of Parliament (3.45pm)

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Friends of Syria hosts Mazen Darwish and Yara Bader

Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster

RSVP to [email protected]

NB Members of the public should enter via the Cromwell Green entrance, (8) on this map. Please arrive 20 minutes early to allow for queues at security.
 

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive the latest English PEN news and events.

SIGN UP
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Partners
  • Outreach
  • Jobs
  • Contact us

With thanks to our Core Funders

©1921 - 2023

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee number 5747142 (England & Wales) and a registered charity, number 1125610.

We use cookies to help us improve your experience on our website. By closing this notification or interacting with the website you agree to our use of cookies. ACCEPT Find out more
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT