PEN is an organization of writers in more than one hundred countries working against oppression and for freedom of expression. The people at PEN Sweden wanted to find new ways to make banned literature available publicly through the Internet. In his first editorial, editor Ola Larsmo writes:

It has been apparent how various groups in power have done their utmost to get a grip on digital communications. Internet is no longer the free arena for ideas it was in the beginning. /…/ The Dissident Blog is Swedish PEN’s contribution to bring down the new digital prison bars.

Together with the graphic designer Johan Rutherhagen and Drupal developer Fredrik Jonsson we developed an edition-based web publication, available in English and Swedish, and also in an original language in some cases. The result is a clean, typographically centered web site with a strong literary character. For upcoming editions of The Dissident Blog, there are lots of plans for additions and improvements, so stay tuned!