Declarations on Freedom for Writers and Readers

Foreword by T. M. Devine

Declarations on Freedom for Writers and Readers is an anthology of poetry and prose exploring freedom of expression.

The year 2020 marks the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in which the Scottish nobility appealed to the Pope to support the nation’s fight for freedom from ‘the rule of the English’. The need to hear and understand each other is as urgent now as it ever was. Today, an issue vital for democracy that concerns the whole world is freedom of expression.

This collection of poetry and prose marks this resonant anniversary with messages asserting the crucial importance of the freedom to speak and to write, to listen and to read, to break silence in the face of injustice. It includes many voices and experiences, journeying from Scotland to Mayanmar, from Ireland to South Africa, from Mexico to Thailand.

Declarations on Freedom for Writers and Readers was a project conceived and realised by Scottish PEN which, for nearly 100 years, has been campaigning for freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas across borders.