Top PEN Prize to Honor Nasrin Sotoudeh
Int.'l Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
13-Apr-2011

Top PEN Prize to Honor Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jailed Iranian Lawyer, Writer, and Women’s Rights Advocate

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi to Represent Imprisoned Colleague at Ceremony

New York City, April 13, 2011—PEN American Center today named Nasrin Sotoudeh, a writer, lawyer, and leader of the women’s and children’s rights movement in Iran, as the recipient of its 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, and is now serving an 11-year sentence for her outspoken advocacy in defense of her clients arrested after the June 2009 presidential elections and interviews she gave to human rights organizations and media about their cases.

The award, which honors international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN’s Annual Gala on April 26, 2011, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, a close friend and associate of Ms. Sotoudeh, will attend the PEN Gala on April 26, 2011, and receive the award on her behalf. Ms. Ebadi, who is the author of Iran Awakening and the newly released memoir The Golden Cage: Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny, will be available for interviews in conjunction with the event.

“Nasrin Sotoudeh not only embodies the spirit of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, but also the spir... >>>

recommended by Shifteh Ansari

Share/Save/Bookmark