International PEN
Encyclopedia
PEN International the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London
in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere.
PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists and Novelists", but now includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.
Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature
in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views.
It is the world’s oldest human rights
organization and the oldest international literary organization.
.
The first PEN Club was founded in London
in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott
, with John Galsworthy
as its first President. Its first members included Joseph Conrad
, Elizabeth Craig, George Bernard Shaw
, and H.G. Wells.
The club established the following aims:
Past Presidents of International PEN have included Malcolm Afford
, Alberto Moravia
, Heinrich Böll
, Arthur Miller
, Mario Vargas Llosa
, Homero Aridjis
and Jiří Gruša
. The current President is John Ralston Saul
.
International PEN is headquartered in London and composed of 145 autonomous PEN Centres in 104 countries around the world, each of which are open to qualified writers, journalists, translators, historians and others actively engaged in any branch of literature, regardless of nationality, race, colour or religion.
In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art and libraries, the heritage of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion.
Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favor of good understanding and mutual respect among nations; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel race, class, and national hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace in the world.
PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and among all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in their country or their community.
PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world toward a more highly organized political and economic order renders free criticism of governments, administrations, and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood, and distortion of facts for political and personal ends...
by imprisoning writers, the Writers in Prison Committee monitors the cases of over 900 writers who have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, attacked, made to disappear, and killed for the peaceful practice of their profession. It publishes a bi-annual Case List documenting free expression violations against writers around the world.
The Committee also coordinates the International PEN membership's campaign towards an end to these attacks and to the suppression of freedom of expression world wide.
International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange
, a global network of non-governmental organisations that monitors censorship
worldwide and defends journalists, writers, internet
users and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
It is also a member of the Tunisia Monitoring Group
, a coalition of 16 free expression organisations that lobbies the Tunisian government to improve its human rights record.
forms the International PEN memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dedication reads, "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." Officially opened on 17 November 1997.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere.
PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists and Novelists", but now includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.
Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views.
It is the world’s oldest human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization and the oldest international literary organization.
Role of PEN
PEN is a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
The first PEN Club was founded in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott
Catherine Amy Dawson Scott
Catherine Amy Dawson Scott was an English writer, playwright and poet. She is best known as a co-founder of International PEN, a worldwide association of writers.-Works:*Charades for Home Acting....
, with John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
as its first President. Its first members included Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, Elizabeth Craig, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, and H.G. Wells.
The club established the following aims:
- To promote intellectual co-operation and understanding among writers;
- To create a world community of writers that would emphasize the central role of literature in the development of world culture; and,
- To defend literature against the many threats to its survival which the modern world poses.
Past Presidents of International PEN have included Malcolm Afford
Malcolm Afford
Malcolm "Max" Afford was an Australian playwright and novelist.-Early years:Afford was born at Parkside, Adelaide...
, Alberto Moravia
Alberto Moravia
Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism....
, Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1967 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.- Biography :...
, Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
, Homero Aridjis
Homero Aridjis
Homero Aridjis is a Mexican poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalist and diplomat known for his independence.-Family and Early Life:...
and Jiří Gruša
Jirí Gruša
Jiří Gruša was a Czech poet, novelist, translator, diplomat and politician.-Biography:...
. The current President is John Ralston Saul
John Ralston Saul
John Ralston Saul, CC is a Canadian author, essayist, and President of International PEN.As an essayist, Saul is particularly known for his commentaries on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-, or more precisely technocrat-, led societies; the...
.
International PEN is headquartered in London and composed of 145 autonomous PEN Centres in 104 countries around the world, each of which are open to qualified writers, journalists, translators, historians and others actively engaged in any branch of literature, regardless of nationality, race, colour or religion.
PEN Affiliated Awards
PEN awards dozens of literary awards each year. Some examples include:- The PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionPEN/Faulkner Award for FictionThe PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US $15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US $5000. The foundation brings the winner and runners-up to...
- The PEN/Malamud AwardPEN/Malamud AwardThe PEN/Malamud Award and Memorial Reading honors "excellence in the art of the short story", and is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors and representatives of Bernard Malamud's literary executors.The award was first given...
, for excellence in the art of Short Fiction - The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories (a yearly anthology, not an award)
PEN Charter
Literature, national though it be in origin, knows no frontiers, and should remain common currency among nations in spite of political or international upheavals.In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art and libraries, the heritage of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion.
Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favor of good understanding and mutual respect among nations; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel race, class, and national hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace in the world.
PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and among all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in their country or their community.
PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world toward a more highly organized political and economic order renders free criticism of governments, administrations, and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood, and distortion of facts for political and personal ends...
Writers in Prison Committee
International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee works on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide. Established in 1960 in response to increasing attempts to silence voices of dissentDissent
Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...
by imprisoning writers, the Writers in Prison Committee monitors the cases of over 900 writers who have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, attacked, made to disappear, and killed for the peaceful practice of their profession. It publishes a bi-annual Case List documenting free expression violations against writers around the world.
The Committee also coordinates the International PEN membership's campaign towards an end to these attacks and to the suppression of freedom of expression world wide.
International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
The International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
, a global network of non-governmental organisations that monitors censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
worldwide and defends journalists, writers, internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
users and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
It is also a member of the Tunisia Monitoring Group
Tunisia Monitoring Group
The Tunisia Monitoring Group is a coalition of 21 free expression organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange , a global network of non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.The IFEX-TMG...
, a coalition of 16 free expression organisations that lobbies the Tunisian government to improve its human rights record.
Memorials
A grove of trees beside Lake Burley GriffinLake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River—which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle—was dammed...
forms the International PEN memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dedication reads, "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." Officially opened on 17 November 1997.
Notable Members of International PEN
- Homero AridjisHomero AridjisHomero Aridjis is a Mexican poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalist and diplomat known for his independence.-Family and Early Life:...
, President EmeritusEmeritusEmeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
. - Margaret AtwoodMargaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
- Heinrich BöllHeinrich BöllHeinrich Theodor Böll was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1967 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.- Biography :...
- Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
- Elizabeth Craig
- Hermann FriedmannHermann FriedmannAdolph Hermann Friedmann was a Polish-German philosopher and jurist.- Literary works :...
- Robie MacauleyRobie MacauleyRobie Mayhew Macauley was an editor, novelist and critic whose literary career spanned over 50 years.-Early life:...
- Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
- Charles Langbridge MorganCharles Langbridge MorganCharles Langbridge Morgan , was an English-born playwright and novelist of English and Welsh parentage. The main themes of his work were, as he himself put it, "Art, Love, and Death", and the relation between them...
- Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
- George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
- H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
- Mario Vargas LlosaMario Vargas LlosaJorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
See also
- International PEN centers - 145+ PEN centers around the world.
- PEN American CenterPEN American CenterPEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...
- the largest of the PEN centers, located in New York City, New York. - PEN Center USAPEN Center USAPEN Center USA, founded in 1943, is one of two PEN centers in the United States and 145 centers in the world. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1981...
- the second largest of the PEN centers, located in Los Angeles, California
- PEN American Center
- PEN literary awards - as awarded by and in conjunction with PEN centers around the world.
- Tunisia Monitoring GroupTunisia Monitoring GroupThe Tunisia Monitoring Group is a coalition of 21 free expression organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange , a global network of non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.The IFEX-TMG...
- International Freedom of Expression ExchangeInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....