PEN and Feltrinelli name shortlist for inaugural Writing as Resistance Award

Eight individual writers and a group of four Eritrean writers have been shortlisted for the inaugural PEN-Inge Feltrinelli Writing as Resistance Award.

PEN International and Feltrinelli Publishing released the list on 13 October 2026. A shortlist is the narrowed field from which a winner is later chosen. PEN International

The authors were selected by a joint international PEN-Feltrinelli jury. PEN International and Fondazione Feltrinelli announced the shortlist and the jury together. A jury, in prize terms, is the panel that reads, debates and decides.

The prize is named for Inge Feltrinelli. Its stated aim is to raise awareness of courageous voices and the contexts in which they work. It also seeks to reaffirm the role of literature and free expression. Publishing Perspectives

Among those listed is Gioconda Belli of Nicaragua. She is president of the now-suppressed PEN Nicaragua. She was stripped of her Nicaraguan nationality and forced into exile.

The list also includes Aziz Isa Elkun, a Uyghur writer from China. He is president of Uyghur PEN. It includes Samay Hamed of Afghanistan, executive director of PEN Afghanistan.

From Guatemala comes Miguel Ángel Oxlaj Cúmez, a Maya Kaqchikel writer and member of PEN Guatemala. From Ukraine comes Andrey Kurkov, credited with more than 20 novels and 10 children's books. From Türkiye comes Yavuz Ekinci, whose work focuses primarily on the condition of the Kurdish people in Türkiye.

The ninth nomination goes to four Eritrean writers as a group. That brings the total number of shortlisted writers to 12. The award is in its first year.

What makes this stand out is the spread. The names cross Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Each biography is tied to a PEN centre, the local branch of the global writers association.