Day of the Imprisoned Writer, annual lecture by Sisonke Msimang

What it means to be free

For 2024, we are delighted to announce that Sisonke Msimang has accepted our invitation to present our annual lecture at the WA State Library Theatre.

Sisonke is a South African writer whose work is focused on truth telling in the context of contested histories.

She has written for the New York Times, the Guardian, CNN, Al Jazeera, Laphams Quarterly, Foreign Affairs magazine and many other publications. She is the author of two books about apartheid and its afterlives — Always Another Country: A memory of exile and home; and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela.

The Day of the Imprisoned Writer is an international day to support writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their writing. This day is observed every year on 15 November. It was started in 1981 by PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee.