Title: Liu Xiaobo Courage to Write Award
Awardee: one or two individual annually;
Candidacy: Anyone in the case list of Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN who is still imprisoned or released under legal restriction of the right to freedom of expression, such as “deprivation of political rights”;
Nominator: Three individuals, or a PEN centre;
Nomination period: Starting on 23 June, anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s formal arrest and ending on 8 October;
Date to announce the awardee: Writers in Prison Day on 15 November;
Awarding Items: a certificate or trophy, prize check and awarding statement.
Prize: 2000 US dollars;
Nomination must be written in English or Chinese and should include the followings,
1. The nominee’s full name
2. Description of the nominee’s achievements, or at least a typical work (in any language)
3. List of nominee’s key publications (if available)
4. The nominator’s full name, affiliation and contact address
Please Email the nomination to [email protected] and [email protected]
Deadline: 8 October 2012
Background
Liu Xiaobo Courage to Write Award was the “Writers in Prison Award” created in 2006. From 2010, it has been named for the commemoration of the courage to write manifested over last 20 years by Dr. Liu Xiaobo, ICPC’s honorary and former President who have now been condemned to a severe sentence of 11 years in prison as well as his constant support to this award. The awardees before include Liu Xianbin, Zarganar(Myanmar), Hada, Qin Yongmin and Chen Wei. Dr Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and was also one of 50 cases featured by the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN in its 50th anniversary campaign, Because Writers Speak Their Minds.
The Independent Chinese PEN is among 145 member centers of the International PEN, the oldest human rights organization and international literary organization. It aims to protect Chinese writers’ freedom of speech and freedom to write worldwide and advocates for the rights of Chinese writers and journalists who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted or harassed. For more information on ICPC’s work, please visit http://www.chinesepen.org/english.
For more information, contact
Patrick K.W. POON
Executive Secretary
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC)
Tel: +852-94173765
Email: [email protected]