Authors, journalists, poets and playwrights know that every time the right words are put to paper, or typed to a screen, our planet gets a little better. Because, without the right to express ourselves freely, we cannot achieve change in the world.
Authors, journalists, poets and playwrights know that every time the right words are put to paper, or typed to a screen, our planet gets a little better. Because, without the right to express ourselves freely, we cannot achieve change in the world. That’s why over 100 authors from around the world have signed a pledge to support free speech and stand up for forests. Will you join them?
The pledge follows two multi-million dollar lawsuits filed by Resolute Forest Products, a Canadian company, to silence Greenpeace and Stand.earth’s exposure of its controversial logging in the boreal forest.
Here’s what they have to say:
Margaret Atwood, the Canadian author of The Handmaid’s Tale, recently made into the must-watch television show of the spring. In The Handmaid’s Tale, all but the most powerful women are forbidden to write and are denied access to books.
Tara Moss, author, journalist, documentary maker and human rights advocate, is known for her thriller novels and her critically acclaimed non-fiction books The Fictional Woman and Speaking Out. This year she was host, writer and executive producer of the ground-breaking ABC documentary Cyberhate with Tara Moss, which explored the darkest corners of the web to uncover the cyber violence that’s impacting so many people today.
Stephen Fry, noted English comedian, author of the memoir More Fool Me, and all-around lover of words, has made a career of speaking up, and stood with Greenpeace, whistleblowers and watchdogs on this important issue.
Raimond Gaita is a moral philosopher who has received wide acclaim for his books, A Common Humanity: Thinking About Love And Truth And Justice, and the much-translated The Philosopher’s Dog. But he is perhaps best known to the Australian public for ihs multi-award-winning memoir, Romulus My Father, which was made into a much-loved film starring Eric Bana.
Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi which became an Oscar winning movie. His work is praised for its imagination and originality, and captured hearts and minds everywhere with its magical realism and deftly drawn characters.
Chloe Hooper‘s first novel, A Child’s Book of True Crime, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Literature and was a New York Times ‘Notable Book’. In 2006 she won a Walkley Award for her writing on the 2004 Palm Island death in custody case. The Tall Man, her non-fiction account of the death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee, won many literary awards.
Michelle Alexander is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, which has shaped the conversation on how our prison system contributes to systemic racism and legalized discrimination.
Clive Hamilton was the founder of the progressive think tank The Australia Institute where he was Executive Director for 14 years, but he is probably most recognised for his best-selling books on consumption, climate change and happiness including Growth Fetish, Affluenza, Silencing Dissent and Requiem for a Species: Why we resist the truth about climate change.
Naomi Klein, author of Shock Doctrine, is a thought leader who sheds light on everything from the problems with capitalism to the importance of protecting our planet. Her new book No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need will be out June 13. She spoke out about the need to fight against legal tactics like SLAPPs to ensure the protection of freedom of speech.
Kim Kelly is a passionate advocate for the power of stories as instruments of healing and inclusion. With warmth and lyrical charm, her historical novels lead us into difficult terrain, exposing bigotry, class conflict, disadvantage and violence – issues that resonate through the social and political landscape of Australia, and the world, today.
Anthony Doerr’s book, All The Light We Cannot See, won the Pulitzer and his writing wins praise from both readers and critics for its perfectly crafted language and page-turning plot.
Thank you for joining us in celebrating the right to freedom of expression and advocacy. Please join them, along with more than 100 authors from around the world, who have signed a pledge to support free speech and stand up for forests.
These are just a few of the authors lending their voices to the campaign. You can see the full list from Australia and around the world here.
