ICORN Guest Writer Asieh Amini wins Oxfam Novib/PEN Award

The award is given annually to chosen writers who have been persecuted or had to flee their homeland due to their writing. Amini will be present and will read a selection of her poems aloud in Farsi. The award ceremony is in conjunction with the Writers Unlimited Winter Nights Festival taking place from 19-22 January in The Hague.

Amini fled her native Iran in 2007 after a brief imprisonment due to her protesting of a fellow activist's incarceration. Amini is an outspoken supporter for human rights in Iran and an active member in the 'Stop Stoning Forever Campaign.' After the awards ceremony, Amini will participate in a panel discussion on women's rights and sexuality.

Amini released her latest work, a joint Norwegian-Farsi collection of poetry called 'Komme ikke til mine drømmer med gevær' ('Don't Come into My Dreams with Guns') in Autumn 2011 by Communicatio Publishers.

Five other writers have also been selected to receive the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award this year. They are: Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist and former newspaper editor; Rachid Nino, Moroccan editor and owner of the Massae Media Group; Jesus Lemus Baragja, who has been a journalist, writer, and newspaper editor in his native Mexico; and Alhaj Warrag and Abdul-Moneim Suleiman, who are the founder and chief editor, respectively, of the Arabic newspaper 'Arjas el Hurriya' in Sudan. ICORN Guest Writer in Haugesund, Andrei Nekrasov, received the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award in 2011.