2026 DISTURBING THE PEACE AWARD: SHORT LIST ANNOUNCED

The annual Disturbing the Peace Award to a Courageous Writer at Risk recognizes authors of distinguished works of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography, memoire, drama, or poetry who are courageous in dissent and have suffered unjust persecution because of their outspoken defense of democracy and human rights.

The award helps provide awardees with the shield of international attention while enriching public understanding of the power of the written word to preserve and promote humanity’s highest ideals.

The short list of nominees for 2026 are:
Ali Asadollahi (Iran)
Gui Minhai (Sweden)
Dawit Isaak (Eritrea/Sweden)
Pham Doan Trang (Vietnam)
Maryam Shojaei (Iran/Canada)
Marko Vidojković (Serbia)

ABOUT THE SHORT-LISTED NOMINEES FOR THE 2026 DISTURBING THE PEACE AWARD:

Ali Asadollahi is an internationally acclaimed poet, writer, songwriter, translator, and member of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA). A leading poet of his generation, he has published six widely-read poetry collections; his work has been so far translated into English, Italian, and French; and his poems have been featured in numerous prestigious journals including Roanoke Review, Alchemy, Palaver, and The Persian Literature Review. Some of his more recent publications include Modern Poetry in Translation, Poetry Wales, Epoch, Palette Poetry, Third Coast, Denver Quarterly, and LIT Magazine.

Gui Minhai is an author, publisher, and prominent advocate for freedom of expression. Born in China, he is a Swedish national who has been known for publishing books that examined the lives and activities of senior Chinese Communist Party figures, including works that were politically sensitive and unavailable in mainland China. As a co-owner of the Hong Kong–based publishing house Mighty Current Books and its associated bookstore, he played a significant role in making critical and investigative political writing accessible to Chinese-language readers. In 2015, he was abducted from Thailand by Chinese authorities which have rejected his Swedish nationality and ignored protests from Sweden and the European Union. He remains in a Chinese jail.

Dawit Isaak is an Eritrean-Swedish writer, playwright, and journalist who has been imprisoned without trial in Eritrea since 2001 for his support of democratic reform and press freedom. He has published one book (in Swedish): Hope: The Story of Moses and Manna’s Love & Other Texts. He is known to have written plays and literary texts, but because of his long imprisonment and the limited availability of his writings, there is no widely documented bibliography of his works. He has never been formally charged or given a trial. Despite a brief release in 2005 for medical treatment, he was re-arrested within days and has remained imprisoned ever since. His exact whereabouts and condition are unknown.

Pham Doan Trang is a Vietnamese author, journalist, and democracy activist. She has published numerous books, including Chính trị bình dân (Popular Politics, 2018), Cẩm nang nuôi tù (Handbook on Supporting Prisoners, 2019), Phản kháng phi bạo lực (Non-Violent Opposition, 2019). As a result of her writing and publishing work, Trang was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for ‘spreading propaganda against the state’. 

Maryam Shojaei is an Iranian activist and writer known for her work challenging the Iranian government’s ban on women entering stadiums to watch soccer matches. Despite her brother serving as the captain of the Iranian national soccer team, she was prohibited from attending his matches in Tehran. Leveraging this visibility, she took on a critical role in the movement to remove this ban and negotiated with FIFA, coordinated protests outside of matches, and raised international awareness. The ban was partially overturned in 2023. She has been arrested and beaten, and her family has faced repercussions from the government supporting her activism. She is the author of Azadi means Freedom: Fighting for Gender Equity through the World’s Most Popular Game (2026).

An outspoken writer and journalist, Marko Vidojković is known for his critical stance towards the Serbian authorities. Death threats intensified after the publication of his best-selling novel Djubre (Trash), in September 2020, prompting him and his family to relocate out of concern for their safety. Since 2021, Vidojković has reported several instances of being publicly smeared.

Notably, on 17 October 2025, Vidojković received a series of brutal insults on Facebook, as well as direct threats sent to him and his family. Earlier, on 1 October, he had received death threats on Instagram. The user ‘zorancvetkovic.cvetkovic’ then wrote ‘Your carcass should be killed and thrown to the dogs’ as a comment on a post by the outlet Danas, which quoted Vidojković’s words taken from his daily column about student-led protests. The threats were reported to both the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime and the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad.

The 2026 Disturbing the Peace Award shortlist was prepared by a selection committee whose members are:

Tamar Newberger, computer scientist and activist

Jessica Ní Mhainín, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Index on Censorship

Lise Stone, vice chair, VHC board of directors

Salil Tripathi, former chair of Pen International ‘Writers in Prison Committee’ and board member, PEN International