29 November 2013 The Freedom Pen for Maciej Zaremba Bielawski!

Maciej Zaremba Bielawski is the 18th winner of the Freedom Pen, a prize awarded since 1996 by the Torgny Segerstedt Foundation in Gothenburg. Congratulations!

The prize commemorates Torgny Segerstedt (1876-1945), religion historian, legendary publisher, editor-in-chief of Göteborgs-Handels och Sjöfarts-Tidning, known for his robust attitude towards Nazism. Before Zaremba-Bielawski, the prize was awarded to Astrid Lindgren (1997) and Anna Politkowska (2006 – posthumously), among others. Maciej Zaremba Bielawski was honoured for analysing institutions, traditions, and arrangements that bring harm to the freedom and dignity of an individual. (...) he observes Swedish society through culturally-bifocal lenses – Swedish and Polish – thanks to which his pieces of reportage gain a unique perspective. He highlights new aspects of the system of values in the welfare state, exposes the structures operating in the health service, the judiciary, and the educational system, and examines the approach to the EU labour market, multiculturalism, globalisation, and the forest heritage of Sweden. The winner received the award yesterday (Thursday, the 28th of November) at the Torgny Segerstedt Hall in the main building of the University of Gothenburg.

Picture: Michał Ramus, www.michalramus.com