PEN Sudan: International Recognition for the Voice of Sudanese Writing 94.4% Vote Secures Approval as Sudan Officially
04 October, 2026
(Sudanow)
On September 30, 2026, Sudanese writing reached a new milestone on the international cultural stage, as PEN Sudan was officially admitted as a member of PEN International, following a vote in which the Sudanese center secured 94.4% of the ballots during the organization’s General Congress, which concluded on the same day.
The admission marked the culmination of nearly two years of sustained efforts involving Sudanese writers, women writers, and cultural figures seeking to establish a center representing Sudanese literature and writers in international forums, while creating new channels for communication, cooperation, and the protection of freedom of expression.
The development carries particular significance given the circumstances Sudan has faced since the outbreak of war, which have resulted in a decline in cultural and media activity and exposed cultural institutions, media organizations, writers, and journalists to increasing pressure and risks. PEN Sudan’s integration into the international network comes at a time when safe spaces for expression are shrinking, providing Sudanese writers with a broader international platform through which to present their issues, experiences, and work.
The PEN movement was founded in London in 1921 and has evolved over more than a century into a global network of more than 130 centers in over 100 countries. It works to promote literature and defend freedom of expression, freedom to write and read, and the free exchange of ideas among peoples.
Sudan’s admission to this network carries significance beyond an organizational affiliation. It places Sudanese literature within a global space where questions of writing, human rights, freedom of expression, and the protection of threatened voices intersect. It also provides Sudanese writers and cultural practitioners with greater opportunities to connect with PEN centers around the world, participate in international programmes and events, and develop new cultural and literary partnerships.
PEN Austria nominated PEN Sudan for membership in the international organization, while PEN South Africa provided the necessary endorsement before the membership application was put to a vote at the General Congress. The vote resulted in overwhelming support of 94.4%, making PEN Sudan an officially recognized center within PEN International.
The relationship between Sudanese writers and the international PEN movement did not begin with the latest vote. Sudanese writers have participated in PEN activities and events in previous years, including Sudanese writer Ishraqa Mustafa, who took part in the PEN International Congress in Krakow in 2025 in a session addressing cultural erasure and threats to heritage and cultural expression.
September 2026 also witnessed joint activity involving PEN Sudan and institutions associated with the PEN movement in Britain, focusing on the conditions facing Sudanese writers and filmmakers and the risks confronting cultural and artistic production amid the war.
This growing Sudanese presence comes at a time when PEN International has described Sudan’s cultural and media landscape as facing severe pressure. In its reports, the organization has documented damage to media and cultural institutions since the outbreak of the war, a decline in the number of working journalists, and the closure of numerous newspapers, in addition to the displacement of many journalists, writers, and artists, either within Sudan or abroad.
Against this backdrop, PEN Sudan assumes the task of representing Sudanese writers and defending freedom of expression, while also seeking to build a cultural space that brings together Sudan’s diverse voices and enables them to engage with the global literary community.
The significance of the center extends beyond literature in its traditional sense. Sudan’s current circumstances have generated diverse forms of storytelling and documentation, ranging from novels, poetry, and short stories to journalism, cinema, visual arts, and the testimonies of survivors and displaced people. The presence of a Sudanese center within an international organization such as PEN creates an opportunity to bring some of these experiences into the global cultural discussion on war, memory, identity, and freedom of expression.
Sudan’s representation within PEN International also carries particular significance because of the country’s cultural, linguistic, and historical diversity. For decades, Sudanese literature has provided a space for expressing the multiplicity of communities, cultures, and identities, as well as exploring the relationship between the center and the peripheries, migration and exile, war and peace, and individual and collective memory.
PEN Sudan seeks to use its international membership to expand this space, connect Sudanese writers with their counterparts around the world, bring Sudanese literary and intellectual production to new international platforms, and defend writers facing threats, censorship, or exclusion.
The 94.4% vote represents a significant moment in the center’s journey, while also opening a new phase of work. International recognition places before PEN Sudan the responsibility of building an institution capable of representing Sudan’s diversity, developing sustainable programmes for writers and creative practitioners, and strengthening the presence of Sudanese literature in international forums.
With PEN Sudan now officially recognized as a member of PEN International, the initiative moves from the pursuit of recognition into a new phase of engagement within a longstanding global network. At a time when Sudan is experiencing one of the most turbulent periods in its modern history, Sudanese writing is opening another window to the world, carrying with it the memory, experience, and cultural questions of a country whose people continue to preserve their voice amid war.
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