About the Havel tartan

According to PEN International, the global writers' association, “Writers in prison should have been a phrase entering extinction after the death of fascism at the end of World War II. Instead, there are more incarcerated writers in the world today than at perhaps any time since WWII”. The Havel tartan portrays an endless succession of prison cell windows struck through in red, protesting the persecution of writers of conscience in the knowledge that free expression is essential to any healthy society. It is named in honour of the late Václav Havel, the playwright and co-author of Charter 77, a landmark human rights declaration for which he was imprisoned for several years—only to later lead the Velvet Revolution, which peacefully overthrew communism and made him the first president of a free Czechoslovakia. Permission to adopt the Havel name was graciously granted by his wife, Dagmar Havlová Veškrnová, with support from the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97 and PEN International.

Beyond a show of solidarity or personal expression, the Havel tartan functions as a ruse in the best sense—a pretext for conversations and debates that may blossom into collaborations and impactful social experiments.

About the Disturbing the Peace Award

The Václav Havel Center's annual Disturbing the Peace Award recognizes writers who share President Vaclav Havel’s passionate commitment to human rights and have suffered unjust persecution for their beliefs. The award is given each year to a writer of a distinguished work of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography, memoire, drama, or poetry, who is courageous in dissent and has been punished for challenging an oppressive regime. The award, which includes a $5,000 cash prize, supports talented individuals who embody Havel’s legacy while drawing attention to the many writers worldwide who bravely fight human rights violations.