English PEN : The Satanic Verses: 20 Years On and recent Programme

There was an event at the National Theatre, on Saturday 14 February, 12.30pm
Venue: National Theatre (Lyttelton), South Bank, London, SE1 9PX
to commemorate the 20 years that have elapsed since Ayatollah Khomeini issued his fatwa against the writer Salman Rushdie. In The Satanic Verses: 20 Years On, writers Nadeem Aslam and Hanif Kureishi joined by actors Alex Jennings (The Queen, Bridget Jones, The 39 Steps) and Toby Jones (Finding Neverland, W., Frost/Nixon) in a programme of readings from The Satanic Verses, after which Geoffrey Robertson QC spoke about the implications of the attempted blasphemy prosecution that followed.

Also on Saturday 14 February, at 7.45am on BBC Radio Wales Lisa Appignanesi was talking about the lasting impact of the fatwa. If you were ’re not an early bird you can listen again via the BBC iplayer. Whilst on Radio 3 next Wednesday 18 February you can hear the third in a series of programmes in memory of Harold Pinter. From 11:00pm - 11:15pm Lisa Appignanesi will be reflecting on Pinter's political activism and involvement in the struggles of other writers such as Orhan Pamuk and Hrant Dink in Turkey.

Finally, an appeal to all our full members: to Mrs Dawson Scott, who founded International PEN in 1921, PEN was 'an Idea! A Dining Club – men and women of repute'. To PEN's first President, John Galsworthy, it was an international movement for co-operation between writers, whilst his successor as President, HG Wells, saw PEN as a campaigning force to be reckoned with. What does PEN mean to you? Why did you join PEN, and what have been the highlights of your membership so far? We are compiling a special issue of our 'oPEN' magazine for Summer 2009, in which we'd like to include as many of your contributions as possible. We will have room for more contributions on the website. Please send your thoughts, with the subject line, 'What PEN means to me', to Amy Oliver - http://us.mc522.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=amy@englishpen.org - by Monday 23rd February. We look forward to hearing from you.