America is full of writers freely and legally expressing themselves. But a University writer in residence questions America's appreciation of foreign authors who are denied this freedom of expression.

British-born but Americanized Leslie Hazleton said the extraordinary courage of a man who knew the risk he was taking by writing against the government is the kind of courage that American writers cannot appreciate.

"They don't need to!" she said, since Americans are inherently granted these rights.

Hazleton is a member of international PEN -- a group of more than 2,000 poets, essayists and novelists -- and has recently published her latest creative non-fiction novel, England, Bloody England. She will autograph copies of her book from 5 to 7 tonight at Svoboda's Books, 129 W. Beaver Ave.

"Hazleton is an essayist/journalist who sticks herself into a situation and writes about it," said Michael Svoboda, owner of Svoboda's Books. Svoboda and Hazleton served on a panel together last year for campus support of Salman Rushdie's Satanic verses.

Hazleton's style is non-fiction with a novelistic exploration, Svoboda said. This is also called new journalism and the literature of fact.

There is an implicit contract between the writer and the reader stating "to the best of my knowledge and ability, everything I tell you is or was as I tell it," said Hazleton, who is a permanent visiting professor at the University.

As a member of the Freedom-to-Write Committee of PEN, Hazleton advocates the release of literary prisoners by giving a voice to the imprisoned. These authors "believe so deeply in the freedom to write that they risk their freedom to do it," she said.

It is Hazleton's job to get Jack Mapanje out of jail. Mapanje, a theoretical linguist with degrees from the University of London, was arrested Sept. 25, 1987, in Malawi, Africa, but had committed no crime.

His book of poems, Of Chameleons and Gods, discusses political themes and freedom of expression. His writings were so important that the dictatorship was threatened, Hazleton said.

Mapanje was imprisoned in the hopes of killing his awareness and stifling his voice. He has been held without charge or trial.

"We cannot allow (Mapanje) to be silenced," Hazleton said. Her manic distribution of postcards protesting Mapanje's imprisonment is the first step to his release.

Publishing his works in America will publicize the injustice. The aim is to make it too uncomfortable for Malawi's government to keep Mapanje imprisoned. Malawi, a one-party state, is one of the toughest black dictatorships without freedom of speech and artistic expression.

"I sometimes wonder if I, or any writers in America, would have the courage to speak out and write under those circumstances of possible torture and death. I like to think I would, that's my self-image. But I'm afraid that I wouldn't, in practice," Hazleton said.

Although different from the political pressures in Malawi, Hazleton said she sees England as repressive and restrictive in the psychological sense. England, Bloody England is an autobiographical account of Hazleton's reflections on English customs. "In England, one ought not to do this or that. In Malawi, one can not." In contrast to the erosion of the will to self-expression in England, Hazleton said America is a delight. Self-expression is held in the highest regard here, she said, as "everybody's expressing themselves from the rooftops!"

Hazleton's writing theory is that the ability to write comes from the inside. Too much emphasis is placed upon things usually taken for sophistication, such as a privileged background, wealth and money.

These is absolutely no indication of an ability to write, she said. One can write as brilliantly about life in a small Pennsylvania town as in New York City.

"You must write about what grabs you. It is not enough to be interested, you must be obsessed," Hazleton said.

Hazleton will read passages from England, Bloody England at this evening's book signing. Adam Schonbrun, graduate student, will deliver several of Mapanje's poems. PEN postcards advocating Mapanje's release will be available.