PEN America Awards Ahmed Naji Freedom to Write Award

Imprisoned Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji has been named winner of the 2016 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. Naji is the author of three books, as well as a journalist at Egyptian state-funded literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab. He was charged with “violating public modesty” in 2015 due to the sexually explicit content of an excerpt from his novel The Use of Life, and was sentenced to two years in prison in February. 

The PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award was established in 1987, and is dedicated to awarding individual writers who have fought for the right to freedom of expression. This year’s award is underwritten by The Edwin Barbey Charitable Fund, an organization co-directed by Village Voice owner Peter Barbey.

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