The Vaclav Havel Center has announced the winner of its 2025 Disturbing the Peace Award. The laureate is Maksim Znak, a Belarusian attorney and writer currently imprisoned in Belarus. He becomes the tenth recipient of the award.
“Currently serving a 10-year sentence in Belarus for his peaceful political activism, Znak has become an emblem of intellectual resistance. His collection of prison stories, Zekameron – inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron – bears witness to the power of literature behind bars. Composed of 100 vignettes, it captures the absurdity, irony, cruelty, and humanity within the Belarusian penal system, offering both a searing indictment of state repression and an affirmation of human dignity,” the Center’s website states.
About the Award
The Vaclav Havel Center’s annual Disturbing the Peace Award for a Courageous Writer at Risk is presented to authors who, like Vaclav Havel, demonstrate a deep commitment to human rights and face persecution for their beliefs. The award includes a cash prize of USD 5,000 and brings international attention to those who risk their freedom for the written word.
Jury Comments
In announcing the award, Bill Shipsey — retired barrister, human rights activist, founder and director of Art for Human Rights, and member of the VHC Board of Directors — stated:
“As a fellow lawyer, even if in my case a retired one, I am delighted that Maxim Znak has been chosen unanimously by the Disturbing the Peace Award Jury as this year’s worthy recipient. Znak is serving a ten year sentence imposed in September 2021. His book “Zekameron” – ‘100 tales from behind prison and eyelashes’ ranks among the most moving and powerful prison literature in print. Inspired by the 14th century Decameron by Boccaccio and taking the form of 100 short stories, charting 100 days of prison in Belarus today.”
Salil Tripathi, former Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee and current board member of PEN International, added:
“Maksim Znak not only has the unfailing grace and droll irony of the kind Vaclav Havel exemplified, but has shown persistence in seeking justice and freedom for his nation through peaceful means. He brings us inside the prison where he is an inmate, and tells us vivid stories of other prisoners, noting their dark humor, and humanizes them. The government may want to erase them, but Znak bears witness and remembers. He is a worthy winner for ‘disturbing the peace;’ may he be free soon.”
John Shattuck, juror and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, commented:
“At a time when facts and words that convey the truth are twisted into lies, Maksim Znak through his writing and his courage restores the supremacy of truth and disturbs the peace by combining the legacy of Franz Kafka and Vaclav Havel. Maksim’s courageous persistence and ironic eloquence are beacons of hope in the struggle against tyranny.”
“Currently serving a 10-year sentence in Belarus for his peaceful political activism, Znak has become an emblem of intellectual resistance. His collection of prison stories, Zekameron – inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron – bears witness to the power of literature behind bars. Composed of 100 vignettes, it captures the absurdity, irony, cruelty, and humanity within the Belarusian penal system, offering both a searing indictment of state repression and an affirmation of human dignity,” the Center’s website states.
About the Award
The Vaclav Havel Center’s annual Disturbing the Peace Award for a Courageous Writer at Risk is presented to authors who, like Vaclav Havel, demonstrate a deep commitment to human rights and face persecution for their beliefs. The award includes a cash prize of USD 5,000 and brings international attention to those who risk their freedom for the written word.
Jury Comments
In announcing the award, Bill Shipsey — retired barrister, human rights activist, founder and director of Art for Human Rights, and member of the VHC Board of Directors — stated:
“As a fellow lawyer, even if in my case a retired one, I am delighted that Maxim Znak has been chosen unanimously by the Disturbing the Peace Award Jury as this year’s worthy recipient. Znak is serving a ten year sentence imposed in September 2021. His book “Zekameron” – ‘100 tales from behind prison and eyelashes’ ranks among the most moving and powerful prison literature in print. Inspired by the 14th century Decameron by Boccaccio and taking the form of 100 short stories, charting 100 days of prison in Belarus today.”
Salil Tripathi, former Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee and current board member of PEN International, added:
“Maksim Znak not only has the unfailing grace and droll irony of the kind Vaclav Havel exemplified, but has shown persistence in seeking justice and freedom for his nation through peaceful means. He brings us inside the prison where he is an inmate, and tells us vivid stories of other prisoners, noting their dark humor, and humanizes them. The government may want to erase them, but Znak bears witness and remembers. He is a worthy winner for ‘disturbing the peace;’ may he be free soon.”
John Shattuck, juror and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, commented:
“At a time when facts and words that convey the truth are twisted into lies, Maksim Znak through his writing and his courage restores the supremacy of truth and disturbs the peace by combining the legacy of Franz Kafka and Vaclav Havel. Maksim’s courageous persistence and ironic eloquence are beacons of hope in the struggle against tyranny.”
