How does a country's literature recover after years of mass censorship? James Byrne, poet and founder of the poetry journal The Wolf, has followed the developments in Burma for many years and he was...

Following the student protests in Burma in 1988, an independent magazine called The Irrawaddy was founded in exile in Thailand, and quickly became a respected source for news from the closed country...

Russian journalist Alex Tor specializes in Chechnya and Ingushetia in the North Caucasus, which have a history of war and violence. He has, among other things, written about corruption, refugees, and...

Russian authorities continue to silence critical voices in the country and portray human rights organizations and foreign forces as bribed lackeys. Tanya Lokshina , program director for Human Rights...

“Traditional values” may sound like something harmless and old fashioned, until one realises that they are the opposite of the rights that are the foundation of modern democracy. Maria Chichtchenkova...

In the past, the state made sure that life was difficult for writers in Russia. However, in contrast to journalists, Russian writers are today freer to write about what they want. Natasha Perova...

Following 9/11, crucial social issues are often described as a choice between security and threat, rather than between freedom and oppression. This is the case also in Russia. There are, however...

Nationalism grows increasingly stronger in Russia and it is a fact that xenophobia is gaining grounds in society today. “It is no longer just skinheads and radicalised young men shouting: ‘Attack the...

What is the best way to deal with the memory of the Great Terror? The famous journalist Yelena Rubinova has visited two of the places where the memory of Stalin's terror is still an open wound, like...

The well-educated are among the first to leave a repressive dictatorship. In countries like Belarus or Eritrea, the escalating oppression cuts holes in the very fabric of society. How are these to be...

Freedom of speech is also about being given access to literature itself. “Alphabetization” is not just about cracking the reading code—it also about getting a hand to reach the higher branches in the...

What kind of harm really comes from the surveillance exposed by Edward Snowden and other activists? We need to know more, says Larry Siems, writer and director of PEN America's Freedom to Write...