In this interview, writer Philo Ikonya talks about her writing, activism, being a mother in exile, and freedom of expression in Kenya. Now president of PEN Kenya, Ikonya has been arrested multiple times for protesting, was severely beaten while in police custody in 2009.
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Excerpt from Kenya, Will You Marry Me? by Philo Ikonya, the exiled Kenyan poet and novelist. She is known for speaking out against injustice and corruption and has written extensively on governance, mass poverty and post-election violence in Kenya.
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Iranian poet, journalist, activist Asieh Amini has investigated stoning cases and speaks out against social injustices from Islamic Republic of Iran. In this interview, she talks about her exile, writing, and the power of social media in Iran.
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This year, the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN, celebrates 50 years of defending freedom of expression around the world with a year-long campaign – Because Writers Speak their Minds. As part of this campaign, the Committee looks back on 50 emblematic cases illustrating how and why they have worked. One case on this list is story of Mansur Rajih. This poet was the first International Cities of Refugee Network’s guest writer in Stavanger, Norway, where he arrived in 1998 after spending 15 years in prison in Yemen.
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