Edita & Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation

The 2025 Hiroshima Peace Prize of 500,000 SEK
is awarded to PEN BELARUS 

The Edita and Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture has decided to award its 2025 Prize to PEN BELARUS

Motivation for the 2025 Hiroshima Prize: 

Under the shadow of an increasingly repressive regime, Belarus remains largely closed off from the world. Amid this isolation, PEN Belarus stands as a beacon of resistance—defending freedom of expression, cultural identity, and the rights of writers and artists at great personal and collective risk. 

By awarding the Hiroshima Prize to PEN Belarus, we wish to illuminate a corner of Europe too often consigned to silence, and to draw international attention to their courageous work in the face of censorship and persecution. The organization’s steadfast efforts to protect and promote the Belarusian language and culture push back against aggressive Russification policies and offer vital support to a growing diaspora community striving to remain connected to their cultural and linguistic roots. 

In dark times, such efforts are more than admirable; they are necessary. The Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture is therefore proud to recognize PEN Belarus for its moral courage, its intellectual resilience, and its unwavering commitment to human dignity. 

To us, this award is more than a prize – it is a powerful gesture of solidarity and attention at a time when Belarusian culture, language, and civil society are under immense pressure. Your words resonate deeply with us. The light you are shining gives strength to continue defending our values and nurturing the connection with the Belarusian community in exile. says Taciana Niadbaj, President of PEN Belarus.

PEN Belarus was founded in 1989 by the Committee which included 20 Belarusian writers. It was admitted to PEN International in May 1990 at the 55 Congress on Madeira Island. Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus registered PEN Belarus on November 16th 1990 on the grounds of the Statute and the Resolution of the Council of Ministers №274 dd. November 1st 1990 and reregistered on October 31st 1999. As a member of PEN International PEN Belarus has a status A in the UNESCO and consultative status in the UN. 

The Edita and Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture was created in 1989. The Foundation presents awards to women and men who contribute, in a cultural field, to fostering dialogue, understanding and peace in conflict areas. Further information on the Foundation, including a biography of Edita Morris and a full list of recipients of previous awards, can be found on the Foundation's website  http:// www.hiroshimafoundation.net 

PEN Sweden is a freedom of expression organisation working in support of writers, journalists, librarians, publishers and other literary professionals worldwide. PEN Sweden is a part of the global network PEN International, connecting centers in around 100 countries. https://www.svenskapen.se/ 

The Hiroshima Prize Ceremony will take place in October 2025 in Stockholm, organized together with PEN Sweden.

The Board of the Hiroshima Foundation is composed of Hans Christopher Toll (Chairman), Hedda Krausz Sjögren, Louise Belfrage, Sara Gidlund, Philippe Pasquier, Elisabeth Toll, Paola Hjelt and Chandrasiri Rajakaruna.

For contacts:
HC Toll: hc@hctoll.se, mobile: +46707170041