Category: Advocacy
-
Stella Gaitano wins PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025.
Leila Aboulela selected Stella Gaitano as the PEN English Pinter Prize for Writer of Courage 2025 in London, UK, on Saturday, October 10, 2025. The PEN Pinter Prize is awarded annually to a writer from Britain, the Republic of Ireland, or the Commonwealth who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize-winning speech, casts an…
-
Zukiswa Wanner and Other Global Sumud Flotilla Activists Released
South African writer, publisher, and activist Zukiswa Wanner and other participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla arrived safely in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, after their release from Israeli custody. The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international, civil society–led maritime initiative aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The…
-
South African Writers in Solidarity with Zukiswa Wanner
South African writers have put out a statement of solidarity on the kidnapping of South African writer Zukiswa Wanner off the coast of Gaza on the night of October 1, 2025. Statement of Solidarity As a collective of independent South African writers, we wish to express our support, solidarity and admiration for the courageous actions…
-
Statement: My wife, writer Zukiswa Wanner has been kidnapped by Israel
My name is James Murua, and my wife, Zukiswa Wanner, was kidnapped by the Israeli regime on the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off the coast of Gaza on the night of October 1, 2025. The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international, civil society-led maritime initiative aiming to break the Israeli blockade of the…
-
Andrew Brown’s The Bitterness of Olives for Global Sumud Flotilla Book Club
Andrew Brown’s The Bitterness of Olives is the first read of the Global Flotilla Sumud Book Club started by Zukiswa Wanner this week. The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international, civil society-led maritime initiative launched in mid-2025, aiming to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Named from ṣumūd (Arabic for ‘steadfastness’ or ‘resilience’),…
-
Zukiswa Wanner for Global Sumud Flotilla
South African writer, activist, and publisher Zukiswa Wanner is on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempts to break the siege imposed on Gaza by the Israeli regime. The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international, civil society-led maritime initiative launched in mid-2025, aiming to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Named from ṣumūd (Arabic…
-
Kenyan Readathon 2025 for September 13
The Kenyan Readathon will host its official event at the Alliance Française Nairobi on Saturday, September 13, 2025. The Kenyan Readathon is a month-long reading marathon celebrating Kenyan literature, started by book activist Lexa Lubanga in 2020. In that first year, the initiative asked Kenyans to read writers from their country and share their progress…
-
Polari Awards 2025 cancelled
After controversy over the inclusion of a novelist accused of being trans exclusionary on the 2025 longlist, the Polari Prizes are cancelling this year’s edition. The Polari First Book Prize was established to celebrate new writing with a focus on LGBTIQ issues by writers born or based in the UK and Ireland by Paul Burston…
-
Caribbean Literature Day 2025 for July 12
The Caribbean Literature Day 2025 is set to be marked for the sixth year across the Caribbean on Sunday, July 12, 2025. St. Martin-based publisher House of Nehesi announced that the first Caribbean Literature Day would be hosted on July 12, 2020. The day was chosen when Spanish Franciscan priest and bishop of Yucatán, Diego…
-
Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter Prize 2025
Leila Aboulela was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize 2025 at the English PEN’s summer party in London, UK, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. The PEN Pinter Prize is awarded annually to a writer from Britain, the Republic of Ireland, or the Commonwealth who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize-winning speech, casts an ‘unflinching,…
-
Read Caribbean Month 2025 is here!
“Read Caribbean Month,” dedicated to reading books written by Caribbean writers, kicked off on Sunday, June 1, 2025. In 2018, Jamaican-born, Trinidad and Tobago-based Cindy Allman established the Book of Cinz platform on Instagram to encourage people to read, read more, read widely, and explore Caribbean literature. A year later, Allman announced June as “Read Caribbean Month”…
-
Sisonke Msimang withdraws from Sydney Writer’s Festival over Palestine
Sisonke Msimang has withdrawn from the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025 over its sponsorship by Airbnb, which actively operates in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. South African-Australian Sisonke Msimang is an award-winning writer, activist, and political analyst with a focus on race, gender, and politics. The South African who was born in Zambia and…
-
Amar Ingrachen on Prix Voltaire 2025 shortlist
Algerian publisher Amar Ingrachen is on the International Publishers Association’s Prix Voltaire 2025 shortlist announced in Paris, France, on Friday, April 11, 2025. The International Publishers Association (IPA) Prix Voltaire is given to publishers who provide authors with the tools to disseminate their written ideas, assuming the same risks as the writers themselves. It honours…
-
Kenyan Readathon 2025 to start in March.
The sixth edition of the Kenyan Readathon, in an announcement shared on Wednesday, January 15, is set to kick off in March. The Kenyan Readathon is a month-long reading marathon celebrating Kenyan literature started by book activist Lexa Lubanga in 2020. In that first year, the initiative asked Kenyans to read writers from their country…
-
African, Black writers join Israel Boycott Pledge
The African and Black literary community, refusing complicity in Israel’s literary institutions, has joined others to condemn the actions of Israel in Palestine. The artist is the conscience of the community and one of the most pressing issues in the world right now is Palestine. The Middle Eastern country was colonised by European Jews who…