TEN writers persecuted for their views will have their work put on display in Lewisham.

The Beyond Bars exhibition runs at Lewisham Library from June 14 until July 8.

Organised by the English Pen group, it has been staged to mark the 50th anniversary of the Writers in Prison Committee.

The committee, founded in July 1960, is a campaign for freedom of expression.

Writers include 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for his writings in China and Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in her Moscow apartment in 2006.

Cabinet member for community services Councillor Chris Best said: “The focus on these 10 writers, allows us to reflect on the freedoms we have.

“It raises important questions about how we protect those rights including the degree to which constraints are necessary in order to preserve those freedoms.”