Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, and others sign an open letter condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Over 1,000 writers worldwide, including Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, and Salman Rushdie, have signed an open letter released by PEN International condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “call[ing] for an end to the bloodshed.”
“We stand united in condemnation of a senseless war, waged by President Putin’s refusal to accept the rights of Ukraine’s people to debate their future allegiance and history without Moscow’s interference,” reads the letter in part. “We stand united in support of writers, journalists, artists, and all the people of Ukraine, who are living through their darkest hours . . . We stand united in calling for peace and for an end to the propaganda that is fueling the violence..”
In addition to Atwood, Franzen, and Rushdie, other signatories of the letter include Paul Auster, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Yann Martel, Benjamin Moser, Joyce Carol Oates, Orhan Pamuk, Marilynne Robinson, Colm Toibin, and Olga Tokarczuk.
PEN Ukraine, in partnership with PEN Belarus, Polish PEN Club is also organizing a public fundraiser to support Ukraine’s creative community; the funds will go to Ukrainian writers, journalists, scholars, translators, and artists who have found themselves under threat as a result of Russia’s invasion.
You can read the letter in full, as well as see the full list of signatories, on PEN International’s website.
