Shubigi Rao guest edits PEN/Opp on literary resistance in times of censorship – released during Banned Books Week  

29 April 2025

Singapore-based Shubigi Rao has been working on the project Pulp about censorship, destruction of books, assaults on literacy and libraries, erasure of women’s voices, and loss of languages, for more than a decade. This autumn she is guest editor for an issue of PEN Sweden’s magazine PEN/Opp, which will be based on her extensive research and gather voices from Armenia, Bosnia and the Philippines. 

“We are currently witnessing the rise of neo-fascist and totalitarian regimes colluding with oligarchs to destabilise social services, undermine public literacy, attack human rights and strip-mine entire ecosystems. It is more vital than ever to coalesce in opposition to these forces. To these mercenaries of control and exploitation, literature is always a threat as it can directly implicate, record, and personalise, and resist messages of dehumanisation and disinformation. This collaboration with PEN Sweden will include guest writers from regions on the fringes of 'empire', on the periphery, and in the blind spots of the global news cycle, writers who are acutely aware of the mechanisms behind conflict and repression, and the ways to resist them,” said Shubigi Rao about the issue.

PEN/Opp is an international online magazine founded by PEN Sweden in 2011. The magazine serves as a platform for people to tell stories that relate to the pervasive and explosive struggle for the freedom of expression. Over the years, PEN/Opp have made texts accessible that have been censored or confiscated, texts that have disturbed those in power or been smuggled out of prisons, and texts that due to self-censorship have even struggled to be imagined. 

“At PEN, we are witnessing a huge wave of destruction and bans on literature, from the destruction of libraries and cultural buildings in Gaza and Ukraine, to the skyrocketing numbers of banned books in the US. Shubigi Rao's special attention to those who protect literature and resist censorship is inspiring at a time when we need more people to stand up to anti-democratic forces,” said Hanna Nordell, Director of PEN Sweden.

The release of Shubigi Rao's PEN/Opp issue will take place during Banned Books Week Sweden, 6–12 October 2025. The texts will be published in original language, English and Swedish.

PRESS INQUIRIES

Lovisa Olai – Communications Manager PEN Sweden
+46 72 208 67 44
lovisa.olai@svenskapen.se