According to a statement published on PEN America’s official website, this year’s award, to be presented on 14 May, will be given to the two Iranian writers.

 

Writer, poet and human rights defender Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee has faced harassment, detention and repeated arrests since 2014 due to her writings and activism on various human rights issues. Most recently detained during the “Jin, jiyan, azadî (Woman, life, freedom)” protests, she was sentenced to seven years in prison at a hearing in April 2023. Her sentence was reduced to five years on appeal in July, and she remains in detention at Evin Prison.

 

Writer, poet and translator Ali Asadollahi was also detained for several months during the “Jin, jiyan azadî” protests. Amid intensified state pressure linked to protests that began at the end of 2025, Asadollahi was detained from his home in January 2026 and subjected to torture and forced confession until March. He was released on bail in mid-March. He is the member of the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA). Asadollahi has published six poetry books to date. He was also recently awarded the Gabo Prize by Lunch Ticket.

 

“It is essential we keep drawing attention to writers like Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Ali Asadollahi, who between them represent both the recent, escalating crackdown on dissent in Iran, and the long-standing persecution of writers and civil society that has been a hallmark of the country’s repressive regime for decades,” said Summer Lopez, co-CEO of PEN America. “These writers embody the courage and creativity it takes to express their viewpoints openly in the face of unrelenting persecution.”

 

Iraee and Asadollahi will be honored at PEN America’s 2026 Literary Gala, on May 14 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, underwritten by Peter and Pamela Barbey and the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust and conferred annually, recognizes writers who are in jail at the time the recipients are selected, and who have been targeted for their expression.