NEWS AND STATEMENTS

April Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

April 30, 2012

John Ralston visits the PEN International office in London

April 11, 2012

John Ralston Saul hosts the annual PEN Patron event at his home in Toronto

March 30, 2012

PEN International Statement: Mexican Senate Backs Federalization of Crimes against Jounalists

March 14, 2012

Mexican Senate Backs Federalization of Crimes against Freedom of Expression

PEN International warmly welcomes the Mexican Senate’s approval, on 13 March 2012, of a constitutional amendment, which, if passed by Mexico’s states, will federalize crimes against journalists.

John Ralston Saul, International President of PEN International said:

“This amendment was the focus of our recent delegation to Mexico City, and in particular of our conversation with the President of the Senate and other Senators. Its passage is a very important step in the reforming of Mexican law to make it serve the freedom of expression of Mexican writers and Mexican citizens as a whole.”

Jennifer Clement, President of PEN Mexico said:

“PEN Mexico applauds this historic step taken by the Mexican senate to federalize crimes against journalists. This is only the beginning as each individual state must ratify the amendment and then true measures to end the devastating violence and impunity must be put into place. We, along with all PEN centres in the world, continue to stand watch.”

PEN International has long campaigned for an end to impunity in Mexico. In January 2012 we sent an international delegation to Mexico City which met with, among others, the President of the Senate, José González Morfín, the then Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression, Gustavo Salas, and the Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which to practice journalism. Since 2000 at least 67 journalists, writers and bloggers have been murdered in connection to their work; at least twelve have disappeared.

One of the key demands made by PEN International during the delegation’s visit was that crimes against journalists and freedom of expression be federalized.

The amendment, if ratified, will modify Article 73 of the Mexican Constitution, giving federal authorities jurisdiction over any crime committed against journalists, persons and organizations which impinges on their right to free expression. In practice, the vast majority of attacks on journalists in Mexico have been dealt with at state level, where corruption and inefficiency is endemic. Handing responsibility to federal authorities will bring greater resources to any investigation; the federal authorities are also considered to be less susceptible to corruption.

Versions of the legislation have been debated since 2008. The amendment now needs to be passed by a majority of the states for it to become law.

The Globe and Mail Op-ed - Mexico: Where words are "rags to cover corpses"

February 3, 2012

PEN Delegation in Mexico: Public Meeting of Solidarity and Protest

January 29, 2012

PEN Mexico, Pen International and other PEN centres as well as prominent writers and journalists from around the world will meet to protest the killing and disappearance of journalists in Mexico.  The public event will take place on January 29, 2012 at noon in Mexico City.  

Place: Casa Lamm
Time: 12:00 PM (noon)

Opening Speech at PEN Protesta! Public Event in Mexico City

January 29, 2012

Liu Xiaobo - One Year Later

December 12, 2011

One year ago, I sat in the great city hall of Oslo with hundreds of writers and other supporters of Liu Xiaobo from around the world. In spite of his absence, it was not a ceremony of sadness, or even of anger. There was a kind of fervour tied to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, so clearly a celebration of freedom of expression and of the courage it often requires. Never has the PEN symbol of the empty chair seemed more dramatic, the chair itself somehow larger in its terrible emptiness, with the Nobel Committee seated on either side.

Its leader, Thorbjørn Jagland, had to speak for both the Committee and the jailed winner. He managed one of those rare orations, filled equally with emotion and intellect, which showed why the Chinese authorities had everything to gain by supporting freedom of expression.

Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, had been put under house arrest, his friends blocked from travelling out of fear that they might come to Oslo. And yet, the most dramatic detail lay elsewhere, in the failure of Beijing to discredit the ceremony. They had attacked Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Norwegian government. And they had launched a major international boycott campaign, using their economic and political clout to convince countries not to attend. In the end, beyond those ten or so annually absent, only a single digit handful of countries caved in to these pressures.

It was a remarkable diplomatic defeat that Beijing is still digesting, uncertain what to do, swaying back and forth between cracking down and loosening up.

In the meantime, all the new means of communication have carried Liu Xiaobo’s message deep into Chinese society. Of course, there are repeated attempts to block these communications, many of which are successful. But each attempt to limit his reputation and message simply amplifies it. The constant technical attempts to block communications act as a signal of their importance. It is as if the Chinese authorities have inadvertently put a loudspeaker to Liu Xiaobo’s message. This message of openness and inclusion would have spread in any case. But the authorities have accelerated and broadened its reach.

So here we are, one year later. Liu Xiaobo’s reputation is intact. His intellectual and ethical weight in China is greater than ever.

As for the Chinese government, the more interesting elements within it are desperately trying to clamp down on corruption. They are desperate to get a handle on widespread strikes and riots, brought on in good part by this corruption and by ineffectual or indifferent officials. They know that the new generation of workers needs protection; they and their families and other citizens need accessible healthcare and education. They need the support of a fair society.

That reform side of the government knows it could benefit from the public rigour which more often than not is a product of open and stable public debate. The source of that debate is freedom of expression, properly respected. And the roots of that freedom of expression are writers, writers protected by the national and international laws and conventions which China has committed itself to, and needs to begin taking seriously.
The simplest way by which to send the message that those commitments are being taken seriously is to release Liu Xiaobo.

John Ralston Saul delivers a speech at the Nordic Forum on Freedom of Expression in Stockholm Sweden

November 30, 2011

Statement issued by Swedish PEN at the Nordic Forum on Freedom of Expresion in Stockholm

November 30, 2011

Over the last few weeks, the revelation that the telecom company Ericsson has been delivering advanced positioning equipment to the Syrian government has been the focus of a heated debate in Sweden. There can be no doubt whatsoever that this equipment is being used to position, eavesdrop on and harass dissidents. Ericsson has denied all responsibility for the uses to which their technology is being used.

During the on going conference ”Words in captivity”, concerning the work of PEN, the ICORN system and freedom of speech in general, PEN International President John Ralston Saul gave a speech during which he questioned the relationship between telecoms like Ericsson and regimes with no respect for human rights. Saul said:

“Companies that supply digital technologies have the obligation to choose carefully the countries with which they do business. When governments demonstrate contempt for the rights of their citizens, as we see in Syria, it is disingenuous for a company to pretend it does not know about or is not responsible for the uses to which their technology will be put. What is happening in Syria represents a clear case, which obligates companies like Ericsson to take a stand.”

The conference has been organised by The Swedish Art Council and The Swedish Academy with the participation of Swedish PEN.

For more information please contact:

Ola Larsmo, President of Swedish PEN,  +46 (0)708-26 85 57 , ola.larsmo@svenskapen.se 

Opening Address by John Ralston Saul at the PAN meeting in Dakar, Senegal

November 22, 2011

President Wade

Ambassadors

Ministers

Mr. Kebé, President of PEN Senegal

Mr. Beye, Secretary General of PEN Senegal

Mr. Harruna Attah, Secretary General of PAN

Prof. Okai, Secretary General of the Pan African Writers Association

Members of PEN everywhere in Africa

Ladies

Gentlemen

President Wade, it’s a great honour to have you with us today.

As you know, PEN has always been an apolitical organization.  Independent.   Irascible.  As it should be.   That independence is central to the role of the writer.   And that is why today, in our 90^th year, we are still, and every day more and more, all over the world, the preeminent organization dedicated to the defense of freedom of expression.

All the same, it is always a pleasure for us to find ourselves with a head of state who is a writer. All the more so in a country like Senegal where all of the presidents, one after the other, have supported the cause of PEN.

I thank you for your hospitality.  And I also thank PEN Senegal on behalf of all of us who have come from abroad.  Its members have worked very hard to make this important meeting possible.

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Sixteen years ago, on November 10, our friend Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged. Léopold Senghor wrote of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'Since we did not help him, we have not been able to mourn him.'

Well, we did everything we could to help Ken Saro-Wiwa – we the writers of PEN International from around the world – and we lost him, and we still mourn him.  That great defeat is a constant reminder of the fight for freedom of expression in all its shapes, in all its grandeur as well as its details.

Today, there are some eight hundred human beings on our list of persecuted or jailed writers. Others are beaten up every day somewhere in the world.  Or threatened.  Or they are broken in fallacious trials.  Freedom of expression is always fragile.  The reality is that we must get up every morning and set about reasserting this principle in our lives; lives which for some of us are tranquil and reassuring.  This recurring threat makes me think specifically about those laws in many parts of Africa which have criminalized what is called insult and defamation.  The decriminalization of these laws is a matter of urgency.

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What is PEN? A literary movement, or a movement to defend freedom of expression?  This debate is 90 years old.  In fact, literature and freedom of expression are the same thing.  Literature without confidence in one's self – in one's imagination – linked to freedom of expression, is no more than a matter of style.

And freedom of expression without literature – without imagination – to take as an example, our situation today, is a world reduced to technocratic statements, consultant jargon and the dialect of economists.  To understand what I am saying, you have only to look at the catastrophes of debt and poverty that this approach without imagination has produced.

PEN believes in freedom of expression without limit and without borders.  We believe in strong criticism, in aggressive debate, in novels and poems and plays that entertain, disturb, contradict. We believe in what could be called an uncomfortable life for those who have public and private power.  This is the best protection we have, we the citizens of the world, against violence and dictatorship.

Whether it is in novels or in speeches, in newspapers or in letters, in conversations or on stage, an aggressive use of freedom of expression serves us all.

That is why George Konrád, one of my predecessors as International President, said – “It is not true that a separate peace can be made with the creators”.  No separate peace can be made with the community of writers.

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We are here in Dakar to talk about PAN – the PEN African Network.  PAN is taking our work – PEN’s - in new directions.  The Network began in 2003 at the International Congress in Mexico City. Mohamed Magani, one of PAN’s first Secretaries General, is here and carries the memories of this work over 8 years to create the Network and give it direction.  With this work, PAN has begun to change PEN.

For example, in a number of countries – I think of Sierra Leone and Guinée Conakry – PEN and PAN – one and the same – are taking our message to teenagers through large reading clubs in schools.

I have just seen several examples of this in Sierra Leone – very moving examples.  These are teenagers who would probably have been blocked from education beyond school because of the social/political situation.  Our school clubs have them reading and writing in an energetic, muscular, public way.

I heard a student – Mohamed Kanneh – declaim, before his friends, as well as senior PEN members, a poem beginning, “My agony is my life”.  And another, “Sometimes in the land, anarchy was the wind that blew”.

Another student – Baba Tejan Kabba – read a remarkable poem against violence.

I say their names because they deserve to be heard.  At 15, in a difficult world, they have the courage and the desire to raise their voices.  And in the difficult world of writers, perhaps they will be heard.

In a village called Lunsar, at Our Lady of Guadalupe School, hundreds of young women literally jostled each other, in a raucous, positive atmosphere, in order to perform plays they had written.

And all of this, in a country emerging from disaster.  This is literature and freedom of expression playing its role.  This is African PEN – PEN International – playing its role in the real world. And over the next few days we will be hearing about programs around the continent and trying to develop strategies – broad, long-term strategies.

Yet all of this represents only a small part of PEN’s work.

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One more example. To lose your language is also to lose your freedom of expression.  For just that reason, PEN has worked over the last twenty years towards a definition of linguistic rights, and a strong defence of those rights.

Today there are hundreds of languages threatened with disappearance.  The languages of power see in this mere inevitability.  We believe it is a matter of political intent.  And to defend these languages is not a matter of charity.  Nor do we want to preserve them merely for them to be converted into subjects of historical study in universities.

Each time a language disappears, a door shuts on a part of our imagination; of our ability to understand this planet.

During our last Congress, in Belgrade, we adopted a charter of linguistics rights.

It is a short document.  One page.  A beautiful text which has already been translated into a dozen languages, and translations keep coming in.  This declaration is called the Girona Manifesto, after the name of that city in Catalonia where we completed the final draft.  It is an important and useful tool for the public fight against the disappearance of languages.  

Here again – on this question of smaller languages or languages threatened with disappearance – the PEN African Network has an important role to play.

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One last point.  Of course, the seventeen African PEN Centres – and there are more to come – have a role to play in these matters and on this continent.  An essential role.

But, equally important, we also need to feel their influence around the world within this great coalition of creativity which is PEN International.

Thank you.

John Ralston Saul visits Sierra Leones PEN Centre in Freetown

November 17, 2011

Opening Speech of the Weltempfang Centre at the Frankfurt Book Fair

October 12, 2011

South African PEN protests at SA Government treatment of Dalai Lama visa application

October 5, 2011

PEN International Assembly at the International Congress in Belgrade approves the Girona Manifesto

September 15, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15th September 2011

Today at PEN International's 77th annual Congress the PEN General Assembly approved the Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights which calls for the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity. This Manifesto developed by PEN's Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee is a significant step toward protecting and promoting all world languages, including those in danger of disappearing.

John Ralston Saul, International President of PEN said, "Many languages are in danger. Many are actually disappearing. The loss of one's language, and through that loss much of one's culture, can be seen as the ultimate removal of freedom of expression".

The Girona Manifesto is a ten point document designed to be translated and disseminated widely as a tool to defend linguistic diversity around the world.

Josep Maria Terricabras, Chair of the Translations and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International said, "Language defines us. To lose one's language is to lose one's voice, identity and spirit. Languages are the homes we live in"

To read the Manesifesto, click here

Notes to editors:

PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now comprises 144 Centres spanning more than 100 countries. Our programmes, campaigns, events and publications connect writers and readers for global solidarity and cooperation. PEN International is a non-political organization and holds consultative status at the United Nations and UNESCO.

For more information and to request interviews please contact our press office:
penoffice@pen-international.org | press@pen-international.org |   + 44 (0) 20 7405 0338    
 

Or contact our Executive Director Laura McVeigh:  +44 (0)7824640527  www.pen-international.org

PEN International recognises achievement of 2010 Nobel Laureates at the Intl Congress

September 14, 2011

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14th September 2011

Hundreds of writers, editors, translators and publishers from across the globe celebrate the achievement of 2010 Nobel Prizes by Mario Vargas Llosa and Liu Xiaobo and call for the release of Xiaobo and his wife.

At PEN International's 77th annual Congress in Belgrade today, delegates from over 80 PEN Centres worldwide unanimously passed a motion to congratulate Mario Vargas Llosa, former PEN International President and 2010 Nobel Laureate for Literature, and Liu Xiaobo, founding president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and 2010 Nobel Laureate for Peace. John Ralston Saul, PEN International President, said: "we follow the model of writers like Mario Vargas Llosa and Liu Xiaobo. They are illustrations of PEN International's indivisible commitment to both literature and freedom of speech."

PEN members also took the opportunity to use their collective voice and call on the Chinese authorities: "We seize on this historic moment to call for the release from prison of Liu Xiaobo and the release from house arrest of this wife, Liu Xia."

Liu Xiaobo, the prominent Chinese dissident writer who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009, was the founder and first president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre. He has since been made honorary member of nine PEN Centres. Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia in 2010. Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison PEN Committee, attended the award ceremony. "Members of the PEN community were honoured to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo last December," said Botsford Fraser. "But not a single member of Liu's family or anyone from mainland China was allowed to attend, and the award was laid upon an empty chair. The PEN community will continue to fight for the unconditional release of our colleague, Liu Xiaobo."

Notes to editors:
PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now comprises 144 Centres spanning more than 100 countries. Our programmes, campaigns, events and publications connect writers and readers for global solidarity and cooperation. PEN International is a non-political organization and holds consultative status at the United Nations and UNESCO.

John Ralston Saul delivers the Opening Speech at the 77th PEN International Congress in Belgrade

September 13, 2011

Thank you Serbian PEN! Thank you Vida and thank you to all of your members. You have organized a wonderful Congress. People who attend have no idea how much work is involved and how many hours are taken up that could have been used for writing. So, a very personal thank you from all of us who have come from other countries.

Quand nous disons  – nous les membres du PEN International – que nous sommes l’évocation de la littérature et de la liberté de l’expression, et que les deux ne se séparent pas  –  c’est une simple déclaration des faits.

C’est notre 90^ème année. Nous sommes – nous avons toujours été – la seul organisation véritablement internationale de la littérature. Nous avons inventé l’idée et la réalité des campagnes pour la liberté d’expression.

Quelquefois il faut répéter l’évident. Il y en a des gouvernements, des pouvoirs - ceux que George Konrad, un de nos anciens présidents, appelle ‘’les professionnels du pouvoir’’, qui disent : Ah, ce ne sont que des écrivains, que des mots. Et c’est vrai, nous n’avons pas de chars ou de banques ou le pouvoir de porter un déficit gigantesque ou un grand bureaucracy. Mais si nous sommes que des écrivains, pourquoi est-ce que quelques 850 de nos collègues sont en prison autour du monde ? Pourquoi est-ce que on tue des écrivains avec une régularité terrifiante ? Nous avons ce grand pouvoir qui est celui de la langue et de l’imagination – à travers les poèmes, le théâtre, les romans, les essais – qui libère l’esprit des lecteurs. C’est avec des mots de l’imagination que l’individu travaille.

Yesterday, I was asked - quite rightly - what difference does it make that writers from 89 PEN centres are gathered in Belgrade. It is the right question.

The first answer is that this Congress is a public expression of reconciliation. Of course, writers in the Balkans have never stopped talking to each other. But, this Congress is a formal evocation of the imagination of the Balkans.

Today, the leaders of 10 Balkan PEN centres sat together on a stage and created the Balkans PEN International Network. The founding members are Bosnian PEN, Bulgarian, Croatian, Kosovar, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian and Turkish. This is an historic event. It is a message to the world.

Second, the gathering of hundreds of writers from around the world matters because it is a force for imagination and transparency. Our charter is clear. We believe in unlimited freedom of expression. But we also believe that no matter how controversial or difficult our words are, the ultimate purpose is to bring people together. The great Serbian Canadian writer, David Albahari, has rightly written that “knowledge can never catch up with the power of ignorance”. This is true. But the imagination can catch up. Imagination can leap over ignorance. Let me give you an example: When a virtually unknown radio journalist is killed in Mexico – the most dangerous place in the world today to be a writer – they leave, in Ivo Andrić’s words, “a memory clearer and more lasting than that of so many other more important victims”.

This year our former President, Mario Vargas Llosa, won the Nobel Prize for literature. And the founding president of our Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Liu Xiaobo, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Two men of courage. Two masters of the imagination. One of whom remains unjustly in prison. And several of our centres were central to what is called the Arab Spring. In some cases they are now a key part of the rebuilding civil society in their country.

The core of what we do is this: imagination and the transparency that imagination creates, and the acceptance of complexity – all of this is above politics and below politics. It’s everything except politics. In a society without this democracy of the mind it becomes possible for lies to install themselves, as if they were language. And as Danilo Kiš put it, “when everyone lies, no one lies”.

We are in the business of open memories, memories that do not oppose people, one against the other. We represent an open idea of how people can live together.

This is the 77^th Congress. The Congress in 1933 in Dubrovnik was organized by this Centre. It was a complex, but historic moment for PEN. We were faced by the rising forces of authoritarianism, even within our own centres. The divisions of European society had become the divisions of PEN. Our President, a great writer, H. G. Wells, but also an anti-Semite with confused public views, found himself caught in an atmosphere of impossible divisions. But, complex though it was, Wells and the delegates found their way through in order to stand with the imagination and transparency and therefore against authoritarianism.

In 1933 we found an ethical shape - long before governments took a stand. And at every PEN Congress since 1933, those ethical standards stand before us as the measure of what we do. I like to think that in leading with wisdom in Dubrovnik, Wells found his own way to a personal understanding of PEN’s ethics. It was a noble moment for him and for PEN.

There are always those who believe that writers can be dragged away from their independence in the public place. And I believe that the next few years will be difficult. There are many strong and negative forces at work. But the meaning of PEN is simple. Our central ethical force is the independence of our imagination and our creativity. And we know what this means because for 90 years we have defended that independence.

Hvala!

Letter from President of Norwegian PEN to his colleague at American PEN about the Oslo attacks

July 28, 2011

Following the terrible events in Norway, the President of Norwegian PEN, Anders Heger, has written the following letter describing the events to his friend Larry Siems at American PEN.

Click the following link to read the letter: http://www.norskpen.no/English/EnglishDetails/tabid/515/ArticleID/1088/Default.aspx

PEN International is deeply distressed by the events in Oslo and Utoeya Island on 22 July 2011

July 26, 2011

Our thoughts are with Norwegian PEN, its members, our friends and supporters at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cities of Refuge Network, and Norwegian publishers as well as all the people of Norway.

Norway’s tolerant and open-minded approach to the world and its deep commitment to human rights makes the attack even more shocking. Yet we believe that these very qualities will help our Norwegian friends and colleagues to find ways to overcome these very terrible events with dignity and resolve.

John Ralston Saul, International President

Takeaki Hori, International Secretary

On behalf of the PEN International Board , Committee Chairs, staff and members

The Girona Manifesto

July 24, 2011

GIRONA MANIFESTO ON LINGUISTIC RIGHTS

PEN International brings together the writers of the world.

Fifteen years ago, the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights was first made public in Barcelona by PEN International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee.

Today, that same Committee, gathered together in Girona, declares a Manifesto of the Universal Declaration’s ten central principles.

1. Linguistic diversity is a world heritage that must be valued and protected.

2. Respect for all languages and cultures is fundamental to the process of constructing and maintaining dialogue and peace in the world.

3. All individuals learn to speak in the heart of a community that gives them life, language, culture and identity.

4. Different languages and different ways of speaking are not only means of communication; they are also the milieu in which humans grow and cultures are built.

5. Every linguistic community has the right for its language to be used as an official language in its territory.

6. School instruction must contribute to the prestige of the language spoken by the linguistic community of the territory.

7. It is desirable for citizens to have a general knowledge of various languages, because it favours empathy and intellectual openness, and contributes to a deeper knowledge of one’s own tongue.

8. The translation of texts, especially the great works of various cultures, represents a very important element in the necessary process of greater understanding and respect among human beings.

9. The media is a privileged loudspeaker for making linguistic diversity work and for competently and rigorously increasing its prestige.

10. The right to use and protect one’s own language must be recognized by the United Nations as one of the fundamental human rights.

Committee of Translation and Linguistic Rights of PEN International

Girona, 13^th of May 2011

John Ralston Saul sends a message to the members of the Independent Chinese PEN on their 10th Anniv

July 20, 2011

Dear Friends, Dear Members of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre,

Congratulations on your 10^th Anniversary. I am very sorry not to have been able to join you. However, it is good to know that Hori Takeaki, our International Secretary, is there representing all of us; as well as Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice-President; and Marian Bostford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee.

Your members have shown enormous courage over the last decade as they have persisted in standing up for literature and freedom of expression. These are the fundamental beliefs which all PEN members around the world share with you. They lie at the heart of our Charter. I personally want to tell you how much I admire this courage which has brought tragedy, imprisonment and persecution to so many of your members. All of us stand in solidarity with you. With this persistence and continuing courage I am convinced that you will play an essential role in helping to change the situation in China so that you will be able to exercise your rights as writers within your home country. And we will be there to support you.

Op-ed: The lethal war on Mexico’s journalists

June 3, 2011

Watch John Ralston Saul moderating a panel and giving a speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum

May 10, 2011

Mexico's National March for Justice and Peace with Dignity

May 7, 2011

Council of Europe and PEN International call for stronger protection of freedom of expression

May 2, 2011

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the President of PEN International, John Ralston Saul, today made the following joint statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. They added that they are making this joint statement to express their concern over the growing threats to freedom of expression.

"Journalists and writers across the world are imprisoned and silenced every year for saying or writing things that did not please those in power. Now we are witnessing the imprisonment of bloggers, citizen journalists, web-activists - even simple Internet users, for legitimately exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Click here to read full statement: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/council-of-europe-and-pen-international-call-for-stronger-protection-of-freedom-of-expression

Council of Europe and PEN International call for stronger protection of freedom of expression

May 2, 2011

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the President of PEN International, John Ralston Saul, today made the following joint statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. They added that they are making this joint statement to express their concern over the growing threats to freedom of expression.

"Journalists and writers across the world are imprisoned and silenced every year for saying or writing things that did not please those in power. Now we are witnessing the imprisonment of bloggers, citizen journalists, web-activists - even simple Internet users, for legitimately exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Click here to read full statement: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/council-of-europe-and-pen-international-call-for-stronger-protection-of-freedom-of-expression

Le Conseil de l'Europe et PEN International préconisent un renforcement de la protection de la liber

May 2, 2011

Le Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l'Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, et le Président de PEN International, John Ralston Saul, ont fait aujourd’hui la déclaration commune suivante à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de la liberté de la presse, célébrée le 3 mai.  Ils expriment par cette déclaration commune le ur inquiétude quant aux menaces croissantes qui pèsent sur la liberté d’expression.

«Chaque année, des journalistes et des écrivains sont emprisonnés et réduits au silence dans le monde entier en raison de paroles ou d’écrits ayant déplu aux dirigeants. On constate aujourd’hui que des blogueurs, des journalistes amateurs, des militants sur le web, voire de simples usagers d’internet, sont emprisonnés parce qu’ils exercent, en toute légitimité, leur droit à la liberté d’expression.

Le Conseil de l'Europe et PEN International préconisent un renforcement de la protection de la liber

May 2, 2011

Le Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l'Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, et le Président de PEN International, John Ralston Saul, ont fait aujourd’hui la déclaration commune suivante à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de la liberté de la presse, célébrée le 3 mai.  Ils expriment par cette déclaration commune le ur inquiétude quant aux menaces croissantes qui pèsent sur la liberté d’expression.

«Chaque année, des journalistes et des écrivains sont emprisonnés et réduits au silence dans le monde entier en raison de paroles ou d’écrits ayant déplu aux dirigeants. On constate aujourd’hui que des blogueurs, des journalistes amateurs, des militants sur le web, voire de simples usagers d’internet, sont emprisonnés parce qu’ils exercent, en toute légitimité, leur droit à la liberté d’expression.

Le Conseil de l'Europe et PEN International préconisent un renforcement de la protection de la liber

May 2, 2011

Le Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l'Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, et le Président de PEN International, John Ralston Saul, ont fait aujourd’hui la déclaration commune suivante à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de la liberté de la presse, célébrée le 3 mai.  Ils expriment par cette déclaration commune le ur inquiétude quant aux menaces croissantes qui pèsent sur la liberté d’expression.

«Chaque année, des journalistes et des écrivains sont emprisonnés et réduits au silence dans le monde entier en raison de paroles ou d’écrits ayant déplu aux dirigeants. On constate aujourd’hui que des blogueurs, des journalistes amateurs, des militants sur le web, voire de simples usagers d’internet, sont emprisonnés parce qu’ils exercent, en toute légitimité, leur droit à la liberté d’expression.

PEN International Endorses Irish PEN Centre's Campaign Against Ireland's Blasphemy Laws

April 28, 2011

PEN International strongly supports the repeal of Ireland's Defamation Act of 2009 and an amendment to the Irish Constitution's requirement that blasphemy be prohibited under Irish law.
Click here to see full press release: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/pen-international-endorses-irish-pen-centre-s-campaign-against-ireland-s-blasphemy-laws

PEN International Launches Publishers' Circle with Leading Publishers

April 5, 2011

On the eve of Free the Word! 2011 (6-10 April) and London International Book Fair (11-13 April) three of the world's leading publishers, Hachette Livre, Penguin and Random House, have joined with PEN International to launch a new initiative - the PEN International Publishers' Circle.  The Publishers' Circle will provide support for PEN International's work and will focus on publishing aspects of PEN's work for Freedom of Expression.

Click here to see full press release: www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/launch-of-pen-international-publishers-circle

PEN International Applauds Unanimous U.N. Accord Ending Push to Make Blasphemy a Crime

March 31, 2011

London, UK, 31 March 2011—PEN International praises the U.N. Human Rights Council for its recent unanimous vote on the right of all individuals to practice religion, which ended a thirteen-year campaign by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to make blasphemy a crime.

Click link to read full statement in English:www.johnralstonsaul.com/pdfs/11-03-31_Defamation_English.pdf
Click link to read full statement in Spanish: www.johnralstonsaul.com/pdfs/11-03-31_Defamation_Spanish.pdf
Click link to read full statement in Arabic:  www.johnralstonsaul.com/pdfs/11-03-31_Defamation_Arabic.pdf

PEN International seeks an Executive Director

March 16, 2011

Interview Published in Mumbai Mirror on John Ralston Saul's letter to Vice Chancellor Welukar

March 12, 2011

John Ralston Saul sends a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University

March 8, 2011

Egypt PEN Releases Statement, Calls for Free Expression and Political and Economic Reform in Egypt

February 17, 2011

Article by President of Egyptian PEN on Freedom of Expression in Egypt

February 7, 2011

John Ralson Saul Speaks to The Mark about Freedom of Expression

February 7, 2011

PEN International Releases Statement on Developments in Middle East

January 31, 2011

John Saul speaks at

1 28, 2011

John Ralston Saul Attending Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony for Liu Xiaobo with PEN leaders

December 10, 2010

John Ralston Saul participates in seminar organized by PEN International and Amnesty (Oslo)

December 10, 2010

PEN International Releases Statement on Wikileaks

December 10, 2010

To read full statement click here: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/pen-international-statement-on-wikileaks

PEN International Reiterates Call To Release Liu Xiaobo as Nobel Peace Prize Awarded In Oslo

December 9, 2010

John Ralston Saul Publishes "Liu Xiaobo and China’s Real Friends" in International Newspapers

December 6, 2010

Portuguese edition published in Correio Braziliense: http://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/mundo/2010/12/11/interna_mundo,227188/artigo-liu-xiaobo-e-os-verdadeiros-amigos-da-china.shtml

 

PEN International Commemorates 50 Years of its Writers in Prison Committee

November 15, 2010

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to former President of Independent Chinese PEN Centre

October 8, 2010

Former President of PEN International wins 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature

October 7, 2010

PEN Congress Issues Resolutions on China, Iran, Mexico and South Africa

September 31, 2010

Closing Press Release of the 76th Annual International PEN Congress

September 29, 2010

WORLD’S LEADING ADVOCATE FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CONDEMNS IRAN,

TAKES FORMAL ACTION AT CHINESE EMBASSY IN TOKYO,

ELECTS FIRST ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY

More than 250 writers from several dozen countries, gathered in Tokyo for the 76th annual Congress of PEN International, expressed profound outrage at the sentencing yesterday of 35-year-old Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan to 19.5 years in prison on charges that include ‘propagating against the regime’, ‘insulting religion’, spreading ‘anti-revolutionary’ propaganda and obscenity.

John Ralston Saul Delivers Opening Ceremony Speech at the 76th Annual PEN International Congress

September 26, 2010

76th International PEN Congress (Tokyo): Leading Writers Unite for Free Expression

September 26, 2010

John Ralston Saul Speaking on CBC Radio's “As it Happens” About Geneva Panel Decision

September 17, 2010

Press Release Regarding Conclusion of International Seminar on Religious Defamation

September 16, 2010

John Ralston Saul to Chair Panel Hosted by International PEN on Religious Defamation (Geneva)

September 15, 2010

Statement On Threatened Burning of Copies of the Koran on September 11

September 9, 2010

International PEN Mourns The Loss of Georges Anglade

January 14, 2010

Monthly Newsletter

April Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

April 30, 2012

March Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

March 21, 2012

February Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

February 18, 2012

January Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

January 18, 2012

December Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

December 13, 2011

Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends,

Over the last month I have been able to spend time with some twenty of our Centres in Africa and in Europe - a PEN African Network meeting in Dakar, four days in Sierra Leone with our PEN Centre there, a Forum of Freedom of Expression and Guest Writers in Stockholm, and finally in Milan I got together with Franca Tiberto of the Swiss Italian & Reto-Romansh PEN Centre and Sebastiano Grasso of PEN Italia.

Perhaps the most moving moments of this trip came during the days spent in Sierra Leone, a country pulling itself together after a terrible era of violence and destruction.  We have a very strong PEN Centre in Freetown and they are deeply involved in school reading and creative writing programs (these are called PEN School Clubs) along with a number of other African PEN Centres.  PEN Sierra Leone has 40 programs in schools all over the country.

I had always thought that these must be wonderful programs, but I admit that I tended to associate them as much with literacy as with literature.  Now, I realize that they are really about literature, creativity, self-confidence, speaking out in public and freedom of expression.  They are about the students writing creatively and reading literature. These are teenagers in secondary schools.  They may be in neat school uniforms, but most of them are living in circumstances which would prevent them from moving on to college or university, let alone becoming writers or active citizens, speaking up with their ideas. PEN’s school programs give them an extra edge – the power and the dignity of imagination released in a formal way. This allows them to unleash their eagerness and to develop the strength to engage publically.

I went with Mohamed Sheriff (PEN Sierra Leone President), Nathaniel Pearce (Head of the reading program) and Allieu Kamara (PEN Sierra Leone Secretary) to a girls’ school, Our Lady of Guadalupe, several hours outside of Freetown.  Hundreds of teenagers were literally jostling to perform their plays, read their poems and their stories.  At two events in Freetown, I had long talks with some of the students and heard them reading poems on violence and life as a street kid.

All of this is PEN doing its job, on the ground, in the real world.  Frankly, we could do with programs like these in most of our countries.

Yes, PEN has always been about established and leading writers as examples of literature and freedom of expression.  But thousands of our members are important examples of freedom of expression without the protection of a big language or an established publishing system.  Many of the writers we work to protect are unknown and unpublished for political or economic reasons.  And beneath all of that lies the real basis of literature and free expression - an engaged citizenry, reading, writing and speaking out.

-           -           -

There were some ten Centres at the PAN meeting in Dakar where we were guests of PEN Senegal.  It was a fascinating discussion over several days about how PAN should organize itself.  Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah was reconfirmed as Secretary General; Mohamed Magani, who had preceded him, came back as the chair of a new board of seven members.  Some provisional organizational structures were proposed and Harruna is now busy with PAN members looking for a consensus.

After the PAN meeting a year ago in Cairo, this was another reminder of how strong our African Centres are.  And there is a real desire to create more of them.

-           -           -

In Stockholm I was at a gathering organized by the Swedish Arts Council that involved all the Nordic PEN Centres, as well as ICORN and various local authorities.  This was aimed at convincing more cities to create places for writers not able to live in their own countries.  There was also a good discussion about how to work with these guest writers to help them build a viable life in a country which is not their own.

Swedish PEN also to put out a statement on the responsibilities of digital communications companies when it comes to selling technology to governments like those of Belarus and Syria. This fits in with the policy work being done by our Digital Rights Committee and I used the occasion of the meeting to talk about this growing problem.

While there I also had a chance to have a good discussion about PEN with our former International President, Per Wästberg, and separately with the former Chair of the WIPC, Thomas von Vegesack.

-           -           -

All best wishes for the Roman calendar New Year!

November Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

November 10, 2011

Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends,

Sixteen years ago today, our colleague Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged by Nigerian officials for writing and speaking, and doing so persistently. I was in southern Tunisia with a group of writers and film makers when I heard the awful news. Many of us remember that day very specifically, with a sort of bitter shame.

PEN had worked hard for Ken Saro-Wiwa’s freedom; for his life. And we failed. And we felt that failure.

This life of literature and free speech of which we are all part has never been a pretty thing or a gentleman’s respectable undertaking. It has always had a rough and risky side to it. Sometimes those risks are merely financial or involve social alienation or the difficulty of finding a public. Sometimes they involve prison, exile, death. With Ken Saro-Wiwa all the facets of the full risk were played out. Here was the terrible reminder that you could be talented, famous, and you could be right. Yet mediocre, authoritarian officials could hang you and mutilate your body.

Each time I think of our campaigns, the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa re-emerges. We need to do what we do with such a careful balance of determination and care. Lives are in play.

Mexico is an example of this complexity and I know that many of you took part in our Mexican Day of the Dead campaign on November 2^nd. There are dozens of other very different examples. Think of Dawit Isaak, whose life hangs in the balance in Eritrea.

-   -  -  -  -  -

We had an interesting opportunity to explain our work at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. I had had a conversation a few months before with its Director, Juergen Boos, and for the first time PEN International was invited to take part. Laura McVeigh and Ali Nihat came with me and we had a number of events. First, German PEN is always there with a stand and I was able to take part with their President, Johano Strasser and their Secretary General, Herbert Wiesner in their annual Frankfurt press conference, focused on Egyptien publisher Mohamed Hashem, the winner of their 2011 Hermann Kesten Prize.

We also did a major launch of the PEN International Publishers Circle in what is called the Weltempfang – Frankfurt’s new Centre for Politics, Literature and Translation.

This took the form of a public session with Eva Bonnier, Chair of the Swedish Publishers Association, Ronald Blunden, VP of Hachette Livre and Anders Heger, Norwegian PEN president representing Norwegian publishers. I chaired the event. It was called Free the Word: Times of Transition. Quite a few PEN Centres were there, for example Kaiser ÖzHun of Uyghur PEN and Kaitlin Kaldmaa of PEN Estonia; and a big crowd.

The next morning we had a good meeting with many of the members of the Publishers Circle to discuss its activities. The idea for now is to concentrate on supporting publishing in chosen countries where it is difficult. Thanks to the leadership taken by our PEN Centres in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Canada, the Publishers Circle now has 14 members. Starting with the three international founders - Hachette Livre, Penguin Group and Random House - they are: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (Norway), Aschehoug forlag (Norway), Cappelen Damm (Norway), Albert Bonnier Forlag (Sweden), KF Media AB/Norstat (Sweden), De Oberoende (Sweden), Natur & Kultur (Sweden), Söderströms förlag (Finland), House of Anansi Press (Canada), Douglas & McIntyre (Canada) and Harper Collins (Canada). The idea is to take it to between 30 and 35 members. One of the practical results is that we are building up the percentage of unrestricted funds in our budget.

The Book Fair also asked me to give the Weltempfang opening speech on behalf of PEN. The oral record is on our new website.

We are already talking about an annual role for PEN International at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This is all part of us taking our messages to a broader public. I should add that Iceland was the guest of honour this year. Sjón and many other of our Iceland PEN members were in the spotlight.

On a practical front, the Digital Media and Communications group chaired by Hori Takeaki and made up of Marian Botsford Fraser and Margie Orford has begun to work. Eric Lax’s group on structural reform has already received written suggestions from some of you.

All best wishes,

John Ralston Saul

October Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

October 12, 2011

September Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

September 7, 2011

August Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

August 15, 2011

July Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul to the PEN membership

July 15, 2011

History of PEN

'In time of division between countries, International PEN is one of the rare institutions to keep a bridge constantly open' - Mario Vargas Llosa

Former PEN Presidents

FOUNDER:

Mrs C. A. Dawson Scott

Writer, Playwright and Novelist, English.

PAST INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENTS:                     

John Galsworthy 1921–33

Novelist, English, Nobel Prize in Literature (1932). Author of the Forsyte Saga.

H. G. Wells 1933–36

Novelist, English, As president he oversaw the expulsion of the German Centre during the 1933 Dobrovnik Congress.

Jules Romains 1936–41

Poet, French, l’Académie Française (1946), founder of the Unanimism literary movement.

Wartime International Presidential Committee:

    Hu Shih 1941–47

    Philosopher and Essayist, Chinese, Leader of the Vernacular Chinese   

    movement aimed at reforming written Chinese to make it open to all readers.

    Denis Saurat 1941–47

    Essayist, French, Advocate of French - English cultural links.

    H. G. Wells 1941–46

    Hermon Ould 1941–47

    Playwright and Poet, Also longtime International Secretary of PEN.

    Thornton Wilder 1941–47

    Playwright and Novelist, American, Pulitzer Prizes (1927, 1938, 1943).

E. M. Forster 1946–47

Novelist, English.

François Mauriac 1946–47

Novelist and Essayist, French, Nobel Prize in Literature (1952), l’Académie Française (1933).

Ignazio Silone (Secondino Tranquilli) 1946–47

Essayist, Italian.

Maurice Maeterlinck 1947–49

Symbolist, Playwright, Poet and Novelist, Belgian, Nobel Prize in Literature (1911).

Author of “The Blue Bird” (1908) and Pelléas et Mélisande.

Benedetto Croce 1949–52

Philosopher, Italian, “The Philosophy of Spirit”, Italian. Civilization is the “continual vigilance” against barbarism.

Charles Morgan 1953–56

Playwright and Novelist, English (Welsh). Best known for “The Fountain” (1932).

André Chamson 1956–59

Novelist and Essayist, French, l’Académie Française (1956).

Alberto Moravia 1959–62

Novelist, Italian. Known for such novels as: “Gli Indifferenti” and “Il Conformista”.

Victor van Vriesland 1962–65

Writer, Dutch.

Arthur Miller 1965–69

Playwright and Essayist. Pulitzer Prize (1949). Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature. Known for such plays as: “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible”.

Pierre Emmanuel 1969–71

Poet, French, l’Académie Française (1968). Active in the Resistance during WWII.

Heinrich Böll 1971–74

Novelist, German, Nobel prize for Literature (1972), Georg Büchner Prize (1967). As PEN President he welcomed Alexandr Solzhenitsyn into exile and gave him first refuge in his Eifel cottage.

V. S. Pritchett 1974–76

Short story writer and Essayist, English, The Heinemann Award (1969), PEN Award (1974).

Mario Vargas Llosa 1976–79

Novelist, Peruvian, Nobel Prize for Literature (2010).

Per Wästberg 1979–85  

Novelist, Poet and Essayist, Swedish, Member of the Swedish Academy (1997).

Francis King 1986–89

Novelist, English, The Somerset Maugham Award (1951), The Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize.

René Tavernier May – Nov 1989

Editor of la Revue « Confluences », French.

Per Wästberg (Interim) Nov 89 – May 90

György Konrád 1990–93

Novelist and Essayist, Hungarian, leading dissident during the Soviet era.

Ronald Harwood 1993–97

Playwright, South African/English, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2003),  The Humanitas Prize (2008). Author of “The Dresser” and “The Pianist”.

Homero Aridjis 1997–2003

Poet and Novelist, Mexican. Environmental activist, founder of El Grupo de los Cien.

Jiri Grusa 2004-2009

Poet and Novelist, Czech, leading dissident during the Soviet era.

John Ralston Saul 2009-Present

Novelist and Essayist, Canadian.

WRITINGS & SPEECHES

Opening Speech at the PAN meeting in Dakar, Senegal

November 22, 2011

Opening Ceremony Speech of the 76th Annual PEN In Tokyo, Japan

September 26, 2010

Opening Ceremony Speech of the 77th Annual PEN Congress in Belgrade, Serbia

September 13, 2011

Statement On Threatened Burning of Copies of the Koran

September 9, 2010

Article in the Globe and Mail, in memory of George Anglades

August 15, 2010

Op-ed by John Ralston Saul at The Globe and Mail: The lethal war on Mexicos journalists

June 3, 2011

Op-ed by John Ralston Saul at The Globe and Mail: Mexico - where words are rags to cover corpses

February 3, 2012

John Ralston Saul delivers a speech at the PEN Protesta public event in Mexico City

January 30, 2012