THE NEWS from WRITERS: International P E N and its centers and from West Bengal, India

Hsia Yü: Four Poems from Salsa

2011-09-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Source: American PEN

Translation

Hsia Yü: Four Poems from Salsa

September 23, 2011 | PEN American Steve Bradbury is the recipient of a 2011 PEN Translation Fund grant for his translation of Hsia Yü’s collection of poetry Salsa. Read an excerpt from the translation below.

The Ripest Rankest Juiciest Summer Ever
Summer sinks into the clock-face of the cat’s eye
Sinks into chestnut colored limbs
A 17 franc basket of peaches
Day four and already summer has run from ripe to rank
All spring long we dined as if we had all the time in the world
Followed with interest the color, light and atmosphere
Observed the shadows of the grapevines advancing to this
Last evening of the postimpressionists
Dabs of light thicken on the hammock
Grow thin on the windblown curtain
Each stroke acquiring definition
Until the last stroke added bursts grape skin
Must be August
Ripe for the Fauvists
Never again will mere light so delight us
And O how we weary of atmosphere
Our idle conversation spreads like vines in the arbor
Of this ripest rankest juiciest summer ever
And O how we weary of style
Does style after all exist
So like the snow
Defiled at the merest touch
But while the snow does not exist
The hammock is more manifest than ever
More than April irises or an aperitif at six
Though compared to soccer broadcast live hardly anything exists
Our guest, an enthusiast of “Old Cathay,” asserts that in our fallen day
Only armed revolution poses such tragic implications
And then there is soccer
O how we dine as if we had all the time in the world
Smoked salmon, crab and lobster
And will you look at the size of this oyster
If we could but find the proper venues
To release our leftist tendencies
1906, Cezanne, caught in a storm, returns to his studio
Removes his hat and coat and collapses by the arbor window
Taking stock of the table, its overturned basket of apples, he notices
The “appleness of the apples” and their shadows, the three skulls
The wardrobe, the pitcher, the crock
The half-opened drawer, the clock
It occurs to him proportion is hardly worth the fuss
And could care even less if the table were bevel or not
As he closes his eyes and dies
His eyelids trace a line pointing straight to three o’clock
Still, there is something wanting in all this
Must be time for Matisse

Tied Up and Waiting
Use your psychic power to bend mental
Use your psychic power to stop the hands of the clock
Use your psychic power to flick the switch
I can smell you in my skin
I can smell you in my skin
I can smell you in my skin
I am experiencing what is more what is more I am experiencing the experience
As for the rest
Let me carve it word by word on a single grain of rice
As for the rest
Let me carve it character by character on that strand of hair
As for the rest
I brought the ransom to the agreed upon location
I came at the appointed time
But the kidnapper never showed his face
He’s always so hesitant
I can’t understand this vacillation
I never notified the police
I don’t even know the person he’s holding
I too have been lured by the graceful style of being taken
By this business of being tied up and waiting

Psychic Seductions
Took forever to write back
And used “we” instead of “me”
“We’ve been sleeping around a bit
But it hardly seems a crime
When everyone we know is climbing into bed with everybody else
Becoming good friends in the bargain.”
If we haven’t been exactly seized by inspiration
We’re conscience nonetheless of a certain
Cut-rate terror in those piles of smelly clothes
In the locker room at the gym
Or whiling away the hours at the laundromat
Waiting for the dirty linen
To finish washing
What exactly do critics mean when they say
“More individualized”?
As if I could ever get myself on “The
Find Your Long-Lost Mother Show’’
On cable TV in
Principal I don’t approve of private beaches but
If you’re looking for a good frisson
You can always count on me for a front-row seat
Provided you can walk off and forsake it
For the sake of making it more formalistic
More worthy of saying:
“It’s not meaning I object to
But the meaning of meaning.”
When you open up a coin laundry you have to visualize
The enterprise on the basis of the needs of the general public
Thus encouraging a keen appreciation of those ordinary
But universal forms of suffering and affliction
We rarely mention it
But in the ebb and flow of things
Those psychic seductions we believe in
When the ambience is right
Do in fact happen
In laundromats
Now and then they throw on something classical
Just to muddle through

Those Gloriously Sinful Days of Old
God made the heaven and the earth and on the seventh day
Languid and no longer loving we drifted into the forest
Existence was so brimful after the rain
Porcini were growing in the horse manure
And so we scoured the forest floor in search of more
And when we’d found some we took them home
And washed them off and soaked them till they were soft and tender
And braised them over a gentle flame until the juices ran
And simmered them in butter
Garlic and parsley
Then garnished them with toasted cheese
And slivers of prosciutto
And for a moment the ambience belonged to those gloriously
Sinful days of old psychodramas we sank into like so many sofa
Chairs draped in lacework flower-fringed and yellowed with age
The hodgepodge of scandalously
Perverse eccentricities we tended to keep bottled up
And so we decanted an ’87 Bordeaux a cappella
But then the complicity of this too came to light and we
Fell out of touch but not before we’d taken some portion of
Each other’s eccentricities that serve us now in lieu
Of a tacit understanding

Test Your Literary Wits; Visit PEN at Brooklyn Book Festival

2011-09-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Test Your Literary Wits; Visit PEN at Brooklyn Book Festival

SAVE THE DATE

October 12:
PEN Literary Awards Ceremony

November 1:
PEN New Members/New Books Party

NOTE: To unsubscribe from our mailing list, please use the orange links at the bottom of this newsletter. For any other issues, please contact us here.

PEN Literary Pub Quiz at Brooklyn Book Festival

When: Tonight
Where: St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn
What time: 7–9 p.m.
Team captains include Gabe Boylan of Harper’s, George Prochnik of Cabinet Magazine, James Yeh of Gigantic Magazine, Scott Lindenbaum and Andy Hunter of Electric Literature, translator Susan Bernofsky, Ben Greenman, Matthea Harvey, Amy Sohn, and more; hosted by Katie Halper.

Free and open to the public.

PEN American Center is pleased to announce the return of our popular Literary Pub Quiz! This Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend event gives you the chance to compete with (and against!) editors and writers from your favorite literary magazines, including Cabinet, Gigantic, Harper’s, and Electric Literature, as well as writers Matthea Harvey, Ben Greenman, and many more. Come early to reserve your spot on the team with the writer-captain who also knows where Hemingway was born. We’ll supply the paper and the pencils; you bring the literary smarts! Of course, don’t forget to stop by the PEN booth (#93) on Sunday to say hello.

PEN American Center | 588 Broadway, Suite 303 | NY, NY 10012 | (212) 334-1660

PEN News: September 21, 2011‏

2011-09-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

PEN News: September 21, 2011‏

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

In honor of Banned Books Week, we are asking PEN Members to recommend a single banned or challenged book and to tell us how that book has influenced them as writers and readers. [More]

SAVE THE DATE

September 26:
The PEN Women’s Literary Workshop hosts its annual reading and celebration from 6–8:30 p.m. next Monday in the PEN office (address below). The Workshop is accepting new members. Contact Ilsa Gilbert at (212) 242-1641 for more details.

November 1:
The PEN New Members/New Books Party celebrates new Members and honors those who have had new books published in 2011. [More]

BECOME A MEMBER
Please help us spread the word: writers can now apply for PEN Membership after the publication of their first book or production of one dramatic work in a professional setting.

[Apply for Membership]

NOTE: To unsubscribe from our mailing list, please use the links at the bottom of this newsletter. For any other issues, please contact us here.

PEN LITERARY AWARDS

Apply to PEN’s 2012 Awards

As we celebrate the recipients of PEN’s 2011 Literary Awards, the submissions period for the 2012 Awards is now opening. Beginning October 1, you may nominate colleagues for career awards and submit for PEN’s other awards. For a full list of 2012 Awards and guidelines, visit PEN.org. [More]

ADVOCACY

Celebrate Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week highlights the necessity of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the dangers of censorship. We’ve listed just a few ways for you to get involved. [More]

PEN Welcomes First Freedom to Write Fellow

Deji Olukotun, a lawyer and writer with extensive international development and advocacy experience, begins a new Ford Foundation–sponsored 18-month fellowship in PEN’s Freedom to Write Program. Olukotun will concentrate on expanding partnerships with PEN centers in countries with acute free expression challenges. [More]

THE DAILY PEN AMERICAN

Recently at The Daily PEN American: an excerpt and interview with Liao Yiwu, new poetry by Jeffrey Yang, student work from the PEN Readers & Writers Summer Writing Institute, and a story by Annie Proulx. Coming up: readings and talks with Cave Canem poets Giovanni Singleton and Kevin Simmonds and west coast poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi, new poetry by John Yau, work from this year’s Translation Fund grant recipients, and excerpts from the 2011 PEN Literary Awards winners.

Liao Yiwu Makes First U.S. Appearance

Last week, PEN and The New School welcomed exiled Chinese writer Liao Yiwu in his first visit to the United States In addition to performances and readings of his work, Liao spoke with Philip Gourevitch about his journey from political prisoner to best-selling author. [More]

Literary Pub Quiz and Brooklyn Book Festival Wrap Up

Last Friday’s Literary Pub Quiz brought together writers, editors, and local book lovers for a battle of wits. PEN kept the questions going on Sunday at the Brooklyn Book Festival with our Literary Loves survey. Thanks to everyone who participated. [More]

Susan Bernofsky: Fast Talkers

In her first guest-post for The Daily PEN American, translator Susan Bernofsky looks at “information density” and why speakers of certain languages seem to talk faster than others. [More]

Zhou Qing: What Kind of God

Zhou Qing, author of What Kind of God: A Survey of the Current Safety of China’s Food, recently visited the PEN office from Germany to speak with us about censorship and human rights issues in China. [More]

Read Work by Translation Fund Grant Recipients

Over the coming weeks, we will be posting excerpts and essays from winners of 2011 PEN Translation Fund grants. The first is from Clarissa Botsford’s translation of Elvira Dones’s novel Sworn Virgin, the story of an Albanian immigrant who must reclaim her womanhood after living for 14 years as a man. [More]

PEN American Center | 588 Broadway, Suite 303 | NY, NY 10012 | (212) 334-1660

Demand the immediate and unconditional release of an Iranian poet Faranak Farid

2011-09-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

In support of Faranak farid

The following delegates of the 77th International PEN congress in Belgrade, Serbia, 12-18 September 2011, demand the immediate and unconditional release of Faranak Farid, Iranian poet, translator and women´s rights activist.

According to PEN´s information, Faranak farid was arrested on 3 September 2011on the street in the city of Tabriz, Azerbaijan, Iran. Security forces later went to search her house and seized her computer and personal documents. Farid is thought to be held for her writings, tranlations, speeches and defence of women´s rights, and for the participation in a peaceful protest against the environmental policies of the Iranian authorities affecting Urmiah Lake in Azerbaijan, Iran. Faranak Farid is currently detained without charge. She is at risk of illtreatment in detention, and concerns for her welfare are mounting.

Faranak Farid (aka Ipek) is a leading writer, editor and women´s rights activist. Her publications include the poetry collection Yuxuda Ayilmaq, published in 2009. Another poetry collection Jiziq is under publication. She is a founding member of the One Million Signature Campaign, and has participated in numerous conferences and seminars both inside and ouside Iran.

Undersigned:

John Ralston Saul, President, PEN International

Botsford Fraser,Marian. Chair WIPC, PEN International

Schoulgin, Eugene, Vice President, PEN International

Kathman, Lucina. Vice President, PEN International

Lax, Eric, Treasurer, PEN International

Yang Lian, PEN International

Ikonya, Philo, PEN International

Arpa, Yasmin. Turkey

Magani, Mohammad, Algeria

Siems, larry, America

Niederle, Helmut, Austria

Karim, Abdul, Bangladesh

Mintegi, Laura, Basque

Radeljkovic, Zvonimir, Bosnia- Herzegovina

Durakovic, Ferida, Bosnia- Herzegovina

Aguiar, Claudio, Brazil

Costa Jungenia, Maria Cecilia, Brazil

Konstantinov, Georgi, Bulgaria

Foran, Charlie, Canada

Arenas, Carme, Catalan

Cacinovic, Nadezda, Croatian

Cudara, Angel, Cuba

Lacarda, Luis Ignacio

Marangou, Niki, Cypres

Dedecek, Jiri, Czech

Larsen, Niels Ivar, Denmark

Lohman, Jens, Denmark

Farag, Hala, Egypt

Madeha, Abu Ziad, Egypt

Seymour- Jones, Carole, England

Heawood, Jonathan, England

Lawson, Sarah, England

Martinov, Zlatoje, Esperanto PEN

Macconi, Chiara, Esperanto PEN

Kaldmaa, Katlin, Esperanto PEN

Kotjuh, Igor, Estonia

Tontti, Jarkko, Finland

Nummi, Markus, Finland

Clancier, Sylvestre, France

Pujas, Philippe, France

Rocquigny, Fanny, France

Pellas, Jackie, France

Gonzales, Tosar Luis, Galician

Wiesner, Herbert, Germany

Strasser, Johano, German

Oeser, Hans Christian, Germany

Harruna, Attah Abdulrahman, Ghana

Martin-Liao Tienchi, Independent Chinese PEN

Boland, Kay, Ireland

Mannacio, Giorgio, Italy

Jiro, Asada, Japan

Ayako, Sato, Japan

Pessemesse, Pierre, Occitan PEN

Kim Kyung Sik, Korea

Song, Young Wook, Korea

Kapriqi, Basri, Kosova

Hejab, Abdollah, Kurdish PEN

Dosky, Berivan, Kurdish PEN

Kuncius, Herkus, Lithuania

Dzeparoski, Ivan, Macedonia

Mphasi, Feggie Tiwonge, Malawia

Rodriguez, Judith, Australia

Bojang, Seedy, Australia

Ciobanu, Vitalie, Moldavia

Garnet, Vasile, Moldavia

Panday, Ram Kumar, Nepal

Raj, Prakash, Nepal

Upphoff, Manon, Netherland

Appel, Rene, Netherland

Wattie, Nelson, New Zealand

Heger, Anders, Norway

Eide, Elisabeth, Norway

Pellerin, Gilles, Canada

Carneci, Magda, Canada

Simonov, Alexey, Russia

Cracknell, Linda, Scottish PEN

Campbell, Drew, Scottish PEN

Gueye, Silarneyni, Senegal

Paunovic, Zoran, Serbia

Bajac, Vladislav, Serbia

Murin, Gustav, Slovak

Persak, Tone, Slovania

Wehelie, Amina Mussa, Somali Speaking writers

Orford, Margaret, South Africa

Mahloujian, Azar, Sweden

Larsmo, Ola, Sweden

Tornquist, Annika, Sweden

Baghlaninan, Elnaz, Sweden

Schnider, Christin, Switzerland

Ergas, Zeki, Switzerland

Hoang Bao, Viet, Switzerland

Assaad, Fawzia, switzerland

Kunthar, Tibet

Della, Rocca, Tibet

Bensedrine, Sihem, Tunisia

Gunersal, Tarik, Turkey

Kaiser, Oz Hun, Uyghur PEN

Khamrayev, Khamitzhan, Uyghur PEN

Yen, Son, Vietnam

Roelens, Xavier, Belgieum

Vermeersch, Peter, Belgieum

Chipopu, Morgan, Zambia

Lukorito Wanjala, Chris, Kenya

Source:

Azar Mahloujian in facebook

PEN International recognises achievement of 2010 Nobel Laureates at global gathering of world writers

2011-09-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

PEN International recognises achievement of 2010 Nobel Laureates at global gathering of world writers

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.
For more information and to request interviews please contact our press office:
penoffice@pen-international | press@pen-international.org | + 44 (0) 20 7405 0338.
Or contact our Executive Director Laura McVeigh: +44 (0)7824640527
www.pen-international.org

Ethiopia: Three print journalists charged with terrorism; concerns for wellbeing

2011-09-14T18:54:00.001-07:00

Ethiopia: Three print journalists charged with terrorism; concerns for wellbeing

English PEN protests the terrorism charges brought against two Ethiopian journalists and one Swedish reporter on 6 September 2011, which could see them imprisoned for up to 20 years if convicted. Feteh columnist Reeyot Alemu, Awramba Times deputy editor Woubshet Taye and Kontinet reporter Martin Schibbye have all been detained since June. Taye has reportedly been tortured while Alemu's health is deteriorating rapidly; neither has been given access to medical treatment. English PEN fears that the three journalists are being targeted for their critical reporting in violation of their right to freedom of expression. We are therefore calling on the Ethiopian authorities to drop the charges and release them, and in the meantime ensure that Alemu and Taye are given immediate access to the medical treatment they require. Please send appeals - guidelines and addresses follow.

Detained since 19 and 22 June 2011 respectively, Woubshet Taye and Reeyot Alemu appeared before Ethiopia's High Court on 6 September and were charged under the anti-terrorism law. Their lawyers said they did not have any details about the charges as they were not notified of the hearing and as a result could not attend. Both journalists are being held at Maekelawi Prison in the capital Addis Ababa. Terrorism charges were also filed in absentia against Elias Kifle, editor of the Washington-based anti-government website Ethiopian Review; Kifle lives in exile in the USA.

During a court hearing in August, Taye stated that he had been tortured by state officials while he was being interrogated in prison. As of early September, he was reportedly suffering from pain in his ear and stomach as a result of beatings, but had not been given any medical treatment. The same reports suggest that Alemu's physical and psychological state of health has seriously deteriorated in prison and she is extremely weak. Her relatives have been allowed to visit her and bring her medicines but she has not received any treatment from doctors. Both journalists say they were denied access to a lawyer during their interrogation. For more details on their arrest, please click here.

In a separate case, Martin Schibbye, reporter for the Sweden-based news agency Kontinet, was also charged with terrorism, as well as violation of migration laws, on 6 September 2011. He was charged along with a photojournalist for the same agency, Johan Persson. Their lawyers were reportedly not present at the hearing.

Schibbye and Persson were arrested by Ethiopian security forces on 30 June 2011 while reporting on the activities of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), armed separatists operating in the oil-rich province of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government claims that the journalists are working with the ONLF, which it designated as a terrorist group in June. According to Reporters Without Borders, they were arrested after illegally entering the Ogaden region from Somalia in the company of members of the ONLF and with the aim of investigating human rights violations by the Ethiopian armed forces in the region. The Ethiopian authorities have reportedly blocked journalists' access to the region.

Background

Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law, which criminalises any reporting deemed to 'encourage' or 'provide moral support' to groups and causes which the government considers to be 'terrorist', has been widely criticised as being vaguely worded and catch-all. It carries sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

Useful links

Terrorism charges brought against the three print journalists:
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (7 September 2011)
- Reporters Without Borders (8 September 2011)

Treatment in prison/ health status of Taye and Alemu:
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (1 September 2011)

Please send appeals:

- Protesting the terrorism charges brought against Awramba Times deputy editor Woubshet Taye, Feteh columnist Reeyot Alemu and Kontinet reporter Martin Schibbye on 6 September 2011, which could see them imprisoned for up to 20 years if convicted;
- Expressing concern that the journalists have been arrested and charged purely in relation to their peaceful journalistic activity, in violation of the right to freedom of expression protected under international human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party, including the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights;
- Expressing alarm at reports that Taye has reportedly been tortured and that Alemu's health is deteriorating rapidly in prison, and yet neither has been given access to medical treatment;
- Calling on the Ethiopian authorities to allow the journalists access to doctors and lawyers as a matter of urgency;
- Calling for the journalists' immediate and unconditional release.

Appeals to:

Minister of Justice
Berhanu Hailu
Ministry of Justice
P.O. Box 1370
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: 251 11 551 7775/ 7755
Email: justice@telecom.net.et, ministry-justice@telecom.net.et
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr Seyoum Mesfin
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 393
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: 251 11 551 43 00
Email: mfa.addis@telecom.net.et
Salutation: Dear Minister

Please also send appeals to the Ethiopian Embassy in London:

His Excellency Mr. Ato Berhanu Kebede
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
17 Princes Gate,
London
SW7 1PZ
Fax: 020 7584 7054
Email: ambassador@ethioembassy.org.uk

NB. Please do let us know if you send an appeal, and certainly if you should receive a response, by emailing cat@englishpen.org

Writers in Translation

2011-09-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Writers in Translation

*** Writers in Translation grants programme is now open for submissions - see 'About Writers in Translation' ***

Making the World Legible 2005 - 2011

In 2010, Writers in Translation marked its fifth anniversary with the publication of an anthology containing extracts from 36 books that the programme had supported since its inception. Making the World Legible contains a dazzling array of fiction, non-fiction and poetry from some of the best international writers of our time; distinct and powerful voices from every corner of the globe.

We're delighted that extracts from this celebrated anthology are now available on the Ether Books App free of charge. World authors including Emine Sevgi Ozdamar, Jose Eduardo Agualusa, Jean Hatzfeld, Yassin Adnan, Alberto Mendez and Tahar Ben Jelloun have been published, with more to follow. You can download extracts free from the free Ether App here.

The full anthology is also available online, absolutely free! Download it now... and be transported to another place.

Writers in Translation continues to promote and celebrate literature in translation. Please check the Events page of this website for details of upcoming events.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Source : English pen

PEN News: February 16, 2011‏

2011-02-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

PEN News: February 16, 2011‏

16-02-2011

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS

LITERARY AWARDS

Final Deadline: March 3

PEN is still accepting submissions for several new and revived awards. The deadline has also been extended for the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. [More]

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 24:
Beyond Bollywood:
A Global Piano and
Literary Salon

Join pianist Arunesh Nadgir and authors Hirsh Sawhney and Karan Mahajan at WNYC's Greene Space for an intimate journey into India's diverse and dynamic culture. [More]

OPPORTUNITIES

Summer Internships at PEN

PEN is looking to hire summer interns in Digital Publications and Social Media. Interns will have the opportunity to learn about the breadth of PEN's literary programs and events, and gain experience in online publications. [More]

FIND PEN ONLINE

ADVOCACY NEWS


		Patriot Act Extended, Fight Continues Though the House of Representative has voted to extend Patriot Act Provisions through December 8, the Campaign for Reader Privacy supports an amendment to an appropriations bill that would restore the safeguards for bookstore and library records that were eliminated by the Patriot Act. [More]


		PEN Brings "Reckoning with Torture" to Sundance Robert Redford, Ellen Barkin, and Annie Proulx headlined a special performance of "Reckoning with Torture" at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Doug Liman, a passionate supporter of PEN who directed the event, said, "We're at a pivotal moment in history, and my hope is that America will choose a path toward restoring this nation as a defender of human rights." [Event highlights]

NEW AT PEN


		PEN Reads: James M. Cain's Mildred Pierce We are thrilled to announce James M. Cain's Mildred Pierce as the next selection for PEN Reads, our online reading group. Cain's gritty masterpiece was recently adapted as an HBO mini-series starring Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce. PEN Reads launches in March with short essays, a podcast conversation, and open comments to coincide with the premier of the mini-series. [More]
		PEN America 13 Available as E-book Now there are more ways to enjoy the latest issue of PEN America, featuring Don DeLillo, Patti Smith, John Ashbery, and much more. Get PEN America 13: Lovers on your Kindle, Nook, and iPad. [More]
		PEN on Tumblr You can now find us on Tumblr, a social media platform where we'll be posting short comments, quotes, and multimedia from around the PEN community. [Follow us]

NEW MULTIMEDIA


		Writing Dangerously Children's and young adult authors Adam Gidwitz, Gary Golio, Nora Raleigh Baskin, and Rita Williams-Garcia discuss the censorship and risk they face in the literary landscape, as well as the overriding importance of writing the "true thing." [Audio]

		Viva the Belarus Free Theater Tom Stoppard, Don DeLillo, Billy Crudup, E.L. Doctorow, and others join the Belarus Free Theater for an emotional performance celebrating the courage of the many imprisoned artists and intellectuals in Belarus. [Video]

2010 in Review‏ : PEN American Center

2010-12-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS

2010 in Review‏ : PEN American Center

2010 was an exceptional year for the PEN American Center and our essential callings to protect free expression and to promote literature. The crowning moment was the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former International Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) President Liu Xiaobo, renowned writer and political activist. From our New Year's Eve rally on the steps of the New York Public Library, to his poetry we had translated and read by PEN Members, to Anthony Appiah's nomination of Liu for the Nobel and his recent testimony before a Congressional committee, our championing of Liu's cause was at the center of our work. Recently, a friend of Liu and his wife wrote to PEN on their behalf, commending PEN's "brilliant efforts," which he called "truly admirable, and indispensible to our cause."

In addition to our campaign on Liu's behalf, PEN is monitoring more than 1,000 writers in prison, on trial, or under threat in more than 90 countries and actively campaigning on behalf of more than 150 writers in prison at any given moment. Nor do the threats to free expression come only from the imprisonment of those who dare to speak. PEN's 2010 free expression advocacy programming included "State of Emergency: Censorship by Bullet in Mexico," presented in partnership with Mexican PEN to call attention to the violent silencing of Mexican journalists; "Secularism, Islam, and Democracy: Muslims in Europe and the West," Tariq Ramadan's first U.S. program; and "Faith and Free Speech," a video presented in Geneva at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to counter recent initiatives aimed at prohibiting speech considered blasphemous.

Our work for free expression goes hand in hand with our promotion of literature, as we strive to build connections among literary cultures across borders. This year we celebrated the sixth anniversary of the PEN World Voices Festival that featured both acclaimed international and American writers, such as Toni Morrison, Richard Ford, Roddy Doyle, and Ben Okri; we published the 12th and 13th issues of PEN America, our award-winning literary journal; and we presented literary awards honoring the achievement of writers and translators in 14 categories, including two new awards: the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing and the PEN/W.G. Sebald Award. Among this year's winners were Don DeLillo, Anne Carson, Theresa Rebeck, and Paul Harding.

In other areas, PEN's Readers & Writers Program doubled its instruction hours in the Summer Writing Institute for public high school students; PEN's Prison Writing Program received 1,400 submissions from inmates nationally for the 2010 Prison Writing Contest and is distributing a new edition of its Handbook for Writers in Prison; and we continued to support translation through grants, online translation slams, and the fourth annual online Translation Feature.

All of this, of course, happens because of the generous contributions of PEN Members and supporters. Your support of PEN confirms your belief in the power of free expression and literature to enrich every aspect of human life. "Against oppression we must be armed," as Gabriel García Márquez wrote to PEN, "with the weapons of intelligence and the word--which fortunately are ours ..."

Please consider making a contribution to help support our ongoing efforts. All of us here at PEN will be most grateful.

Sincerely,

Steven L. Isenberg
Executive Director, PEN American Center

.
PEN American Center \| 588 Broadway, Suite 303 \| New York \| NY \| 10012

English PEN Events November 2010

2010-11-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

English PEN Events November 2010

tO All,

Tickets for next Tuesday’s talk, An Evening with Alberto Manguel, are selling fast- book now for what promises to be a fascinating discussion. Later in the month PEN will be present at the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival with several events, including a performance of Another Sky to mark the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Then, on November 17, PEN will be holding a joint event with Index on Censorship as a preview to the launch of Index’s December issue, which will be dedicated to the Writers in Prison Committee’s 50^th anniversary.

Information about all these events, and more, can be found on our website. We hope to see you at a PEN event soon!

Telling Tales: An Evening with Alberto Manguel

Tuesday 9 November, 6.30pm

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London SW16 3DB

£8/£5 PEN Members

New patron of the English PEN Readers & Writers programme Alberto Manguel will read from his new book - All Men Are Liars - and discuss the contradictory and the unreliable in conversation with writer Tibor Fischer. Where can you find truth in a world ruled by lies? In his new fictional tribute to falsehood, Manguel pays homage to literature and its shape-shifting inventions. A rare treat to see this international star writer, this is a perfect night out for readers and writers and liars everywhere.

Tibor Fischer was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his first novel, Under the Frog, which also won a Betty Trask Award, and he was nominated as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Subsequent works include The Thought Gang, The Collector Collector, Don't Read this Book if You're Stupid and Voyage to the End of the Room. His latest book Good to be God was published by Alma Books in 2008.

To book, please call 020 7324 2535 or visit our website.

Libel and Science Writing: Simon Singh

Thursday 11 November, 7.30pm

Bingham, 61-63 Petersham Rd, TW10 6UT

£5/£4 concessions

Simon Singh is the author of a number of bestselling books on science and mathematics, including Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book. In April 2008 he was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association, after an article based on his latest book ‘Trick or Treatment?’ was published in The Guardian. Simon has since become a spokesman and poster-boy for the Libel Reform Campaign, calling for a law that allows scientists and doctors to publish their opinions without fear of a writ. Join him to discuss the art of science writing, why the libel law is not fit for purpose... and why “geek culture” is taking over the world.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.

Day of the Imprisoned Writer: Another Sky

Monday 15 November, 7.30pm

The Coach House, Orleans House Gallery, Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ

£3/£2 concessions/students/PEN members

"I am now convinced, more than ever, that the path of literature is the assured way to human salvation and to civilisation. I hail the power of the pen."

These are the words of poet, novelist and screenwriter and one of Nigeria's most beloved writers Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged on 10 November 1995 for speaking out against Nigeria's successive military governments. His will be one of the seven silenced voices to be brought to life by King's College PEN, English PEN's inaugural student group, when they bring their sell-out performance of 'Another Sky: Voices of Conscience from around the world' to the Richmond Upon Thames Literature Festival. The performance, directed by Abbie Bergstrom and Susie Christensen and featuring seven King's students, is composed of extracts from English PEN's 2007 anthology of the work of persecuted and imprisoned writers.

The event, which will take place on the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, will open with a keynote speech by esteemed author Moris Farhi MBE, a longstanding and invaluable member of PEN, former chair of English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee, and current Vice President of PEN International.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.

Because Writers Speak Their Minds

Wednesday 17 November, 7.15pm

Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL

£5/£5 concessions

Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship, will join Carole Seymour-Jones, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, and President of English PEN, Lisa Appignanesi in conversation with Maureen Freely. This event will preview a very special issue of Index on Censorship, to be launched in December, which will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee. With their combined legacies of campaigning for oppressed writers around the world, this panel discussion promises an eye-opening debate across the wide-ranging issues affecting writers in all genres, in war-torn countries as well as at home in the UK and other supposedly 'free' Western nations. Held in association with Warwick Arts Centre.

To book, please call the box office on 024 7652 4524.

Immigration and Literature: Kamila Shamsie & Lisa Appignanesi

Thursday 18 November, 7.30pm

The Langdon Down Centre, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS

£3/£2 concessions

Britain has always been a hub for international artists. The English language and our commonwealth ties make us an attractive destination for aspiring artists and internationally acclaimed writers alike. Join two such writers, acclaimed novelist Kamila Shamsie and English PEN President Lisa Appignanesi, to discuss the value that immigrant writers bring to British cultural life... and how we might stem the flow of cultural capital away from our shores. Presented in collaboration with the Manifesto Club.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.

PEN News: September 24, 2010‏

2010-10-07T20:11:00.001-07:00

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 23-
October 3:

The 76th International PEN Congress takes places place in Tokyo over the next 10 days. >> More

October 13:
2010 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony

Winners of this year's awards will be honored at Proshansky Auditorium, CUNY Graduate Center. >> More

October 19:
State of Emergency: Censorship by Bullet in Mexico

Join PEN for an evening of solidarity with Mexican journalists. >> More

November 8:
New Members/
New Books Party

Celebrate new PEN Members and honor those who have published books this year. >> More

FIND PEN ONLINE

· Facebook
· Twitter
· Blogspot
· iTunes
· YouTube
· Flickr

Advocacy News

Writers Urge U.N. to Abandon Efforts
to Prohibit Defamation of Religions
At a panel held in conjunction with the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, writers and free-expression advocates from around the world warned of the potential harm in imposing legal restrictions on expression considered offensive or defamatory to religions. >> More

Watch Faith and Free Speech: Defamation of Religions and Freedom of Expression

Watch video statements on faith and free speech presented at the U.N. side-session by Wole Soyinka, Ariel Dorfman, Azar Nafisi, and K. Anthony Appiah

Writer Liao Yiwu Finally Permitted to Travel Outside China
The Chinese government lifted its travel ban against renowned writer and Independent Chinese PEN Center Board Member Liao Yiwu, who is traveling in Germany to appear in several literary festivals in the coming weeks. >> More

New at PEN

Announcing the 2010 PEN Literary Awards Winners
PEN awarded 14 prizes to writers at work in a variety of genres. From fiction and drama to translation, biography, and poetry, the works of this year's award recipients often find man in a world of madness and violence, seeking salvation across physical, spiritual, and linguistic borders.

Read excerpts from the Literary Awards Feature

See the complete list of this year's winners

PEN Welcomes New Director of World Voices Festival
PEN is pleased to welcome László Jakab Orsós as the new Director of the World Voices Festival and Public Programs. Orsós, an accomplished journalist and screenwriter, comes to PEN from the Hungarian Cultural Center, where he served as its Director. >> More

PEN at the Brooklyn Book Festival
As part of this year's Brooklyn Book Festival, PEN hosted a special bookend quiz event, an anniversary reading, and an authors' lounge at the PEN booth featuring a series of author interviews throughout the day. >> More

PEN Freedom to Write: 50th Anniversary Reading

RingShout: Eisa Ulen, Bridgett Davis, Martha Southgate, and Chris Jackson in Conversation

Announcing the Recipients of the 2010 PEN Literary Awards‏

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS

PEN Announces the Recipients of the 2010 PEN Literary Awards

PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world's oldest literary and human rights organization, announced today the winners of the 2010 PEN Literary Awards. Each year, with the help of its partners and supporters, PEN confers over $100,000 to writers, editors, and translators. Two new prizes are included in this year's awards: The PEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award for Paraguayan Literature and The PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. The winners and runners-up will be honored on Wednesday, October 13, at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.

PEN/SAUL BELLOW AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICAN FICTION ($25,000)

Winner: Don DeLillo

PEN/ROBERT BINGHAM FELLOWSHIP FOR WRITERS ($35,000)

Winner: Paul Harding for Tinkers (Bellevue Literary Press)

Runners-up:

Terrence Holt for In the Valley of the Kings (W. W. Norton & Company)

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa for Daughters of the Stone (Thomas Dunne Books)

PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD ($5,000)

Winner: Michael Scammell for Koestler (Random House)

Runners-up:

Jonathan Bate for Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare (Random House)

Graham Farmelo for The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom (Basic Books)

PEN/W.G. SEBALD AWARD FOR A FICTION WRITER IN MID-CAREER ($10,000)

Winner: Susan Choi

PEN/LAURA PELS FOUNDATION AWARD FOR A MASTER AMERICAN DRAMATIST (Prize consists of a gift from Bauman Rare Books)

Winner: David Mamet

PEN/ LAURA PELS FOUNDATION AWARD FOR AN AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT IN MID-CAREER ($7,500)

Winner: Theresa Rebeck

PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING ($5,000)

Winner: Marshall Jon Fisher for A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played (Crown)

Runners-up:

Wil Haygood for Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Knopf)

Richard Hoffer for Something in the Air: American Passion and Defiance in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics (Free Press)

Warren St. John for Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town (Spiegel & Gray)

PEN/PHYLLIS NAYLOR WORKING WRITER FELLOWSHIP ($5,000)

Winner: Pat Schmatz

PEN/VOELCKER AWARD FOR POETRY ($5,000)

Winner: Marilyn Hacker

PEN/TUCK AWARD FOR PARAGUAYAN LITERATURE ($3,000)

Winner: Esteban Bedoya for El apocalipsis según Benedicto (Arandurã Editorial)

PEN AWARD FOR POETRY IN TRANSLATION ($3,000)

Winner: Anne Carson for her translation from the Greek of An Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides (Faber & Faber)

Runners-up:

Seamus Heaney for his translation from the Scots of The Testament of Cresseid & Seven Fables by Robert Henryson (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

Rika Lesser for her translation from the Swedish of Mozart's Third Brain by Göran Sonnevi (Yale University Press)

PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE ($3,000)

Winner: Michael Henry Heim for his translation from the Dutch of Wonder by Hugo Claus (Archipelago Books)

Runners-up:

Esther Allen for her translation from the Spanish of Rex by Jose Manuel Prieto (Grove Press)

David Constantine for his translation from the German of Faust 2 by Goethe (Penguin Classics)

PEN OPEN BOOK AWARDS ($1,000)

Winners:

Sherwin Bitsui for Flood Song (Copper Canyon Press)

Robin D.G. Kelley for Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original (Free Press)

Canyon Sam for Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge (University of Washington Press)

More information about the PEN Literary Awards can be found at www.pen.org/awards. Or contact:

Nick Burd, (212) 334-1660 ext. 108
Elizabeth Weinstein, (212) 334-1660 ext. 120

Tuesday, October 19: State of Emergency: Censorship by Bullet in Mexico

2010-10-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 19: State of Emergency: Censorship by Bullet in Mexico

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW TO HELP WORLD VOICES ADVOCACY PRESS

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 21:
Global Piano and Literary Salon: The Soul of Cuba

Explore Cuban culture through music, readings, food, wine, and lively conversation. >> More

November 4:
Boris Pahor's Necropolis: A Slovenian Story of Culture, Conflict, and Persecution

How did Trieste become an epicenter of racist violence a decade before the Nazis came to power? >> More

November 8:
New Members/
New Books Party

PEN welcomes new Members and honors those who have had new books published this year. >> More

State of Emergency: Censorship by Bullet in Mexico

Tickets: $15/$10 for PEN Members and students with valid ID. Visit smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444.

An Evening in Solidarity
with Mexican Journalists

When: Tueday, October 19
Where: The Great Hall, Cooper Union,
7 E. 7th Street, New York City
What time: 7 p.m.

With readings by Paul Auster, Jon Lee Anderson, Don DeLillo, Laura Esquivel, José Luis Martínez, Francine Prose, Jose Zamora, and poets Víctor Manuel Mendiola and Luis Miguel Aguilar

Followed by a conversation with Carmen Aristegui (CNN en Español) and Adela Navarro Bello (Tijuana-based magazine Zeta); moderated by Julia Preston (The New York Times)

At least eight journalists have been murdered in Mexico in 2010 alone, and many more have been kidnapped, threatened, or disappeared. Still, in towns and cities throughout the country, journalists are daily defying Mexico's "censorship by bullet" to expose critical truths. Renowned Mexican and American journalists and authors come together for an evening of readings and conversation to call attention to the silencing of Mexican journalists trying to investigate drug-related violence in their country, especially on the U.S./Mexico border.

Co-presented by PEN American Center, the PEN Club de México, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Co-sponsored by The Cooper Union and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Press Contacts:
Isabelle Deconinck: (212) 727-7662
David Haglund: (212) 334-1660, ext. 115

Belarus Free Theatre, Comedy: Miriam Elia and The Fix, DJs from Panik

2010-08-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Go East! Sun 29 Aug: Belarus Free Theatre, Comedy: Miriam Elia and The Fix, DJs from Panik

Friday, August 27

Index on Censorship presents…

Go East! Sun 29 Aug

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club , E2 6NB

Belarus Free Theatre * Comedy: Miriam Elia , The Fix * DJs from Panik.com

A day and night of cabaret, comedy and DJs, with a performance from the sensational underground Belarus Free Theatre!

Join Index on Censorship, the UK ’s leading freedom of expression organisation, and the Belarus Free Theatre at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, for a packed night of cabaret, comedy from Sony award short listed Miriam Elia and The Fix - and all-night mischief. Come and see a mischievous mix of Belarusian funk DJs, live music, cabaret and comedians - all for the exceptionally brave people who dare to speak up, and challenge Belarus’s dictator Lukashenko.

24 hours left to get £5 tickets:

http://go-east.eventbrite.com/

The multi-award winning Belarus Free Theatre, banned in their native Belarus , is renowned for staging underground and uncensored performances that draw attention to the continuing problems faced by Belarusians in “ Europe ’s last dictatorship”. Their recent performances, including at the Soho Theatre, London and the Under the Radar Festival, New York , have won widespread acclaim. On July 13 the troop performed a rendition of ‘Numbers’ in an event hosted by Index on Censorship and presented by Tom Stoppard at the Free Word Centre in London .

Confirmed DJs: Panik, Mr. Chips, DJ Perry Stroika and the Tblisi Sound Machine & DJ Gaz Nost.

Reviews of the Belarus Free Theatre:

"Intensely dramatic and extremely well acted… they are truly gifted, devoted, utterly focused… I feel humbled… these are people are on the barricades, they're brave"

Sir Tom Stoppard

‘This dazzling production... shows a spiritual resilience that makes dictatorship look even more inflexible and absurd.’

The Guardian *****

‘As gripping and accomplished a piece of theatre as you’ll find in London this year… this is world class theatre, built on the raw guts of experience’

The Telegraph *****

24 hours left to get £5 tickets:

http://go-east.eventbrite.com/

Michael Harris
Public Affairs Manager
Index on Censorship

mike@indexoncensorship.org

m: 07974 838468

t: 0207 324 2534

New PEN Reads Post by Jaime Manrique Now Online‏

2010-08-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

PEN READS: THE HOUR OF THE STAR

A new entry has been posted at PEN Reads, an online reading group that brings together readers and writers to discuss works of literature relevant to PEN's mission. In this third post, Jaime Manrique examines the movie adaptation of Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star, the first book chosen for PEN Reads. Read earlier posts by Colm Tóibín and Ben Moser.

Susana Amaral's The Hour of the Star

by Jaime Manrique

Great novels are seldom, if ever, successfully translated to the screen (Luchino Visconti's film adaptation of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's The Leopard is the one exception that immediately comes to mind). Wonderfully accomplished novels fare better (just to mention a few recent adaptations, think of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and Mira Nair's The Namesake, fine movies made from eponymous novels). Still, more good novels fail than succeed in the attempt. In fact, it is a commonplace to say that, in general, minor novels make the best movies. Then what about Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star? It is a novel that is short on narrative but big on interiority, peppered with goofy philosophical musings, and has at its center the character, Macabea, who is described by the novel's narrator as "simple minded," and as "a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space."

Though The Hour of the Star, Lispector's final work, is hardly the stuff out of which good movies are made, Amaral's film adaptation comes as a refreshing surprise to the readers acquainted with the novel. I will not go as far as to say that I prefer the movie to the original novel, but I would like to argue that Susana Amaral's film expands the confines of the novel and enriches the narrative, adding layers of feeling that the novel doesn't have. It achieves this, I think, by turning the "unformed" Macabea into an unforgettable movie creation. I would even go as far as to say that thanks to Amaral's movie, Macabea has finally come fully to life.

Read the entire post and join the discussion online at PEN.org.


PEN American Center \| 588 Broadway, Suite 303 \| New York \| NY \| 10012

English PEN : Welcome Bi Feiyu

2010-07-16T02:16:00.000-07:00

English PEN’s Writers in Translation programme needs you!

we welcome Chinese writer Bi Feiyu to the UK. Bi is one of the most respected authors and screenwriters in China today; his books have won the Xu Lun prize, the Chinese equivalent of the Man Booker, twice since 1995 and been longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction prize here in Britain. His new novel, Three Sisters, is an epic portrayal of life in rural and urban Communist China in the 1970s and 1980s under Mao Zedong.

Bi will be appearing at Foyles next Tuesday 20^th July, in conversation with the Guardian’s Richard Lea, to discuss Three Sisters. Details of the event are below, and a flyer is attached. We are also holding a film night here at the Free Word Centre on Wednesday 21^st – again, details below and attached.

We’d like to make sure that Bi has a good audience for these events, so please come along if you can.

Thanks, Sophie

Bi Feiyu in conversation with Richard Lea

Tuesday 20^th July, 6.30pm

The Gallery at Foyles, Charing Cross Road

Bi Feiyu is one of the most respected authors and screenwriters in China today. His books have won the Xu Lun prize, the Chinese equivalent of the Man Booker, twice since 1995 and been longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction prize here in Britain.

In a rare UK appearance, Bi is joined by the Guardian’s Richard Lea to discuss his new novel Three Sisters,

This event is free – please email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

Film Night with Bi Feiyu

Wednesday 21^st July, 6.30pm

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road

On Wednesday, Bi Feiyu joins Arifa Akbar of the Independent and Isabel Hilton, renowned journalist, broadcaster and expert in Chinese affairs, to discuss his work and his experience of adapting fiction for the screen. The discussion will be followed by a screening of the Golden Globe nominated Shanghai Triad, a tale of excess and corruption set in the criminal underworld of 1930s Shanghai.

How to book

This event is free – please email bookings@freewordonline.com to reserve a place.

Sophie Hoult | Writers in Translation Programme Manager | English PEN

t. 020 7324 2535 | d. 020 7324 2542

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA

PEN America 12 Now Available; Subscribe Today!‏

2010-05-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

PEN America: A Journal for Writers and Readers

A one-year subscription to PEN America, PEN’s award-winning literary journal, costs just $18. Subscribe today and receive a free copy of The 2010 PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories! All proceeds go to PEN American Center.

PEN America was nominated this year for an Utne Independent Press Award, and work from recent issues has been selected for Best American Essays and the Pushcart Prize.

PEN America 12: Correspondences presents e-mail exchanges, letters, telegrams, epistolary fiction, and more. Sam Lipsyte sends a note to Barry Hannah, Anne Carson searches letters from a lost brother, and Robert Walser writes behind the walls of a sanitarium. Plus comics from Iran and Lebanon; poetry by Billy Collins; and much, much more.

FORUM: CORRESPONDENCES

1 Write the first paragraph of a letter you’d like to send either to another writer, living or dead, or to a fictional character.

or

2 Describe your experience with the new technology of correspondence: Twitter, e-mail, Facebook, etc.

>> Go to the forum

FICTION

Ten Approximations
by Alex Epstein

His Mother’s Voice
by Leïla Marouane

Life
by Donald Ray Pollock

In Sfax
by Jean-Philippe Toussaint

CORRESPONDENCES

A Truly Mad Business
Claire Messud & Mohammed Naseehu Ali

A Vast Kind of Fiction
David Gates & Jonathan Lethem

DRAMA

A Game
by Melissa James Gibson

GRAPHIC ARTS

Mehdi’s Gone
by Amir and Khalil

The Living Room
by Zeina Abirached

POETRY

Hunger
by Yasser Abdel-Latif

My Octopus Orphan, My Wolf Sister
by Matthea Harvey

Horoscopes for the Dead
by Billy Collins

Of Course, Utensils Shrink
by Piotr Sommer

Unsubscribe rawfkolkata@live.com from this list. Update your information.

PEN American Center | 588 Broadway, Suite 303 | New York, NY 10012 | (212)

Kjell Olaf Jensen receives award for services to free expression

2010-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Kjell Olaf Jensen receives award for services to free expression

International PEN lauds the appointment by His Majesty King Harald V of Norway of Kjell Olaf Jensen as an Officer of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav. The highest honour that can be conferred upon Norwegian, the award has been made to Kjell Olaf Jensen for his many years services to free expression.

Kjell Olaf Jensen (63) is a translator and critic and former president of Norwegian PEN for more than ten years. For almost two decades he has been at the forefront in the defence of the free word, both in the media and as a lecturer - in dialogue with the authorities in Norway and abroad, working with with other organizations, local and international. Jensen has also been a member of the boards of the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators and Amnesty International Norway.

Kjell Olaf Jensen's particular concern is for writers who are fleeing persecution and over the years he has been instrumental to many finding places of safety and refuge. He is a leading member of the International Cities of Refuge Network.

International PEN is immensely proud to have among its midst Kjell Olaf Jensen who epitomises the principles and passions of our organisation. His driving force, tenacity and compassion has not only ensured that freedom of expression is high on the Norwegian government's priorities, but has also provided solace, solidarity and the strength to stand up to oppression to hundreds of writers around the globe.

http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/kjell-olaf-jensen-recieves-award-for-services-to-free-expression

English PEN Events May 2010

2010-04-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

English Pen’s Writers in Public summer season of events is now online and available for booking. Highlights in the next few months include Jachym Topol, Misha Glenny, Zadie Smith, Lee Langley, Philip Hensher, Ali Smith and the English PEN Summer Party. Do visit the website www.englishpen.org/events to see the full programme.

Free Zarganar_____________________________________________________________________

Monday 3 May, 2pm

Venue: Trafalgar Square, London

Burma's most famous comedian, Zarganar, is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for his criticism of the Burmese government's handling of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. The cyclone devastated the country - more than 140,000 people died and millions were made homeless. To mark World Press Freedom Day 2010 and to pay tribute to our brave colleague Zarganar, we will be holding an afternoon of poetry, performance and dance in London's Trafalgar Square, where we will be calling for his immediate release. Everyone is welcome to come and join in, so please do spread the word!

Please wear red to help show your support and bring along an umbrella - the more colourful the better - to take part in our umbrella stunt.

Jachym Topol – Gargling with Tar ____________________

In association with Granta/Portobello and the Czech Institute

Tuesday 11 May, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

Tickets: £5 PEN members, £8 non members

Winner of the Tom Stoppard Prize for Unofficial Literature, Jachym Topol was a key figure in the Czech samizdat movement and since the Velvet Revolution his writing has given voice to the sense of dislocation that followed the fall of Communism. In conversation with acclaimed journalist Misha Glenny, Topol will be discussing his latest novel, Gargling with Tar, an urgent and blackly humorous account of both a young boy - and a country - coming of age.

In addition to our usual Waitrose wine we will be serving Bernard Premium Czech lager after the event. Kindly provided by the Czech Institute.

Georgian Film and Music ____________________________________________

Friday 14 May, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

EPIC Short Films and Conciliation Resources present an evening of Georgian film, screened for the first time in UK, followed by discussion and music. Five short films, made by professional and citizen journalists, tell intimate and personal stories about daily life, dreams and conflict in Georgia. The films are produced by Eyewitness Studios, part of a new media initiative Go Group Media that aims to get real life stories into Georgian TV programming that is otherwise unrepresentative, swamped by propaganda and imported viewing. Margarita Akhvlediani, director of Go Group Media will lead a Q & A session after the films.

For the second part of the evening Tabuni, a London based women's ensemble singing Georgian folk songs and chants, lead by Tamta Turmanidze, will perform a short programme of songs from various regions of Georgia, accompanied by wine and khachapuri (traditional Georgian cheese bread).

Entrance is free though there will be a charge for wine and khachapuri. To book your place please email bookings@freewordonline.com or call 020 7324 2570. For a taster of some of the films we will be showing please click here.

International PEN Newsletter April 2010

2010-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I'm writing this just after leaving Bled and the annual Writers for Peace Committee meeting. This was my first time in Bled, and I must tell all of you who have never been that it is an amazing gathering of PEN members and other writers. Eugene Schoulgin was also there, as were two other members of the board, Markéta Hejkalová and Kristin Schnider, as well as Josep Maria Terricabras, who of course is chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee.

We had some particularly interesting meetings, discussing the possibilities of literary gatherings in the future aimed at bringing writers together from across cultural divides. The whole meeting in Bled was organised thanks to Slovenian PEN, who are an engaged and active Centre.

Whilst there, I had a long meeting with the Slovenian President and investigated ways Slovenia could be helpful on the international front, supporting freedom of expression. I just came from Paris, where I had a good meeting with French PEN and with Abdou Diouf, the Secretary General of La Francophonie. Again, I was talking to him about possible involvement of La Francophonie in International PEN issues. On my way to Paris and Bled I stopped in to London to spend half a day with the International PEN staff.

Earlier in the year, I'd spent a week in London, along with Eugene and our Treasurer, Eric Lax, in order to meet all the members of the International PEN staff and talk with them about what they are doing. We also had a meeting with English PEN, at the invitation of their President, Lisa Appignanesi, which was useful and enjoyable.

As you've all heard by now, Caroline McCormick is leaving us after doing wonderful things for International PEN. Eugene and I are busy talking about the process of replacing her.

Finally, the Fundraising Committee under Haroon Siddiqui is busy working on a new project to raise funds from some of the world's leading writers. I'll come back to you to get your help on this in the near future, but I think it's a great way of bringing money into International PEN in the hope of stabilising its finances over the longer term.

John Ralston Saul, International President

Dear Friends,

These first three months of 2010 has mainly been dedicated to preparations and administrative work; preparations for Free the Word! events and for the Writers in Prison Committee 50th anniversary celebrations, and fundraising activities to continue our work.

It is with great expectation that I look forward to the third Free the Word! festival in London, and after that the Free the Word! event in Istanbul. The writers taking part in the London festival are as interesting as ever, and I have every faith that PEN Turkey will also make their event a great success.

Marian Botsford Fraser, the Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, and Sara Whyatt, the Writers in Prison Committee Programme Director, are leading our WiPC team together with a number of PEN Centres around the world to make 2010 a memorable year of PEN's work defending freedom of expression over the last 50 years. The 50 writers who will be the focus of the anniversary campaign, a writer for every year the WIPC has existed, whom we have been able to help, and in some cases even save, is unexpectedly impressive - even to me who has been involved in this work for many years.

Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary

Dear Friends,

I want to let you know that after five years I have resigned as Director of International PEN.

I am extremely proud of our achievements as a team over the last five years: In particular, the establishment of Free the Word!, the regional programmes, which are now operating in half the PEN Centres worldwide, as well as projects such as the re-brand of the organisation. I have also been privileged to meet many wonderful PEN members and to travel to a number of PEN Centres. Thank you all for your friendship and kindness.

However, I feel that I have now achieved what I can and that it is an appropriate moment for another individual to take over the executive leadership of the organisation. I will be taking up the position of Advisor to the National Theatre in London on their NT: Futures redevelopment, which will see the realisation of a number of initiatives to open up the building, which I was part of the development group for when I last worked there. I am also the Literature Director of Beyond Borders and I will, in this capacity, be staging a residency followed by a programme of events for international authors, as part of the years' Edinburgh International Book Festival. This project is in partnership with Scottish PEN and will I hope engage other PEN Centres in the future.

It has been a pleasure working with you and I am sending you my best wishes for the future.

Yours,

Caroline McCormick, Executive Director

FREE THE WORD! LONDON 2010

Back for a third year, International PEN's Free the Word! festival of world literature is set to take London on a global journey of words through conversations with the great writers you know and the great writers you don't.

Extending our literary celebrations to five days to bring you over 40 writers from 25 countries, we're still offering our usual reader's box of delights. Come and interrogate the graphic nature of crime writing, discuss the fact of fiction, hear the stories of international best-selling writers and listen to the voices of up-and-coming talents.

We are delighted to welcome Nobel prize-winning poet Derek Walcott, Cuban Noir novelist Leonardo Padura, graphic novelists from Israel, India and Denmark, poetry from Uyghur China, Zapotec Mexico and Somalia, a rare appearance by US author Richard Ford in conversation with Blake Morrison, as well as events featuring outspoken Egyptian novelist Nawal El Saadawi. We will also be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee in some special events that mark their work defending freedom of expression since 1960.

Click here for more information about Free the Word! events and to book tickets.

BECAUSE WRITERS SPEAK THEIR MINDS
THE WRITERS IN PRISON COMMITTEE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN

Because Writers Speak Their Minds: 50 years of defending freedom of expression was launched in February and during this year PEN Centres will be encouraged to celebrate the work of the WiPC and commemorate the many thousands of writers who have suffered persecution for their writings during the past half century. At the core of the campaign are 50 writers, each one representing every year since 1960, and all of whom had been subject to the WiPC's advocacy. Their stories are told on the website, with photos and excerpts of their writings, and links to other sources. As the year goes by, Centres will be encouraged to make their own contribution to the site, with comments, reminiscences, updates and news of activities. Contact the WiPC if you would like to be on our email list, and visit our website: Because Writers Speak Their Minds

REGIONAL PROGRAMMES

With the Africa Regional Programme now entering its fourth year it's a good time to pause and take stock of what has been achieved since the launch of the Programme in 2007.

The Regional Programme has enabled 12 PEN Centres in Africa to undertake an ongoing series of projects, public events, campaigns and Centre exchanges. These have ranged from reading and writing projects in schools in Ghana, to human rights awareness events in Kenya, to government lobbying on a national scale in Malawi. In 2009 alone approximately 18,900 children between the ages of 8 and 19 were directly involved in an education project run by a PEN Centre in Africa. Whether they attended a creative writing workshop, took part in a writing competition, became a member of a PEN school club, or simply borrowed a book from their school's newly established library, these students were invited - in many cases for the first time in their lives - to participate in the world of reading, writing and ideas.

Students are not the only ones benefiting from the work: in the past year Uganda PEN has provided intensive teacher training to over 50 teachers; Zambia PEN has doubled the number of users of three community libraries in Lusaka; and Guinea PEN has - through the establishment of capsule libraries in 40 rural schools - provided free access to necessary textbooks to over 10,000 families. Thousands of people have listened to students in Sierra Leone's PEN clubs read their stories and poems live on radio, and many more watched the TV coverage of Somali-Speaking PEN's workshops and prize-giving events. The exposure that Centres have received through their projects, events and campaigns has led to an increase in membership of Centres across the Programme, and allowed for Centres to establish further collaborations with partner organisations.

For more information about the work being carried out by individual PEN Centres, please visit the International Programmes section of our website. Meanwhile the International Programmes team continues to work with Centres in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific.

COMMITTEE NEWS

Writers in Prison Committee

It has been a busy few weeks at the Writers in Prison Committee. The team has been working very hard to get the first stage of its 50th Anniversary Campaign - Because Writers Speak Their Minds - onto the International PEN website, completing the six-monthly caselist, closing actions for the Americas campaign, joint actions with other organisations on Iran and documents for 8 March International Women's Day.

WiPC Caselist July-December 2009: the second six monthly caselist for 2009, covering the period July-December, is now available. This issue also includes statistics for the whole of 2009: the WiPC monitored 900 cases, among them 35 murders, 267 detentions and numerous trials, death threats, attacks and other harassment. 52 writers and journalists who had been serving long prison terms were freed in the same period.

Actions on Cuba and Mexico: the year long campaign on Freedom of Expression in the Americas will close in early 2010. In January a number of actions were taken on Mexico based around last year's promises by the Mexican authorities to the United Nations towards improvements in protection of freedom of expression, pointing to the continued high levels of unsolved murders. Articles on concerns in Mexico appeared in the international media. In February, Centres were invited to take action on Cuba, two years after it had signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The continued existence of numerous writers and journalists in prison despite the signing of this UN treaty is at the core of the appeals from PEN. For more go to: Freedom to Write in the Americas

Iran - Our Society Will be a Free Society: the increasingly critical situation for free expression in Iran has been of huge concern to PEN members and in March, PEN joined forces with twelve other free expression organisers in a joint campaign and petition drive called Our Society Will be A Free Society - a reference to a pledge made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of the 1979 revolution. PEN also monitored the Iranian government's presentation on its adherence to the UN in Geneva in early March. Centres approached their own governments attending this session to ensure that free expression featured highly in the debates. To sign the petition, and for more information about the campaign, visit the campaign website www.oursocietywillbeafreesociety.org or access our page on Facebook.

International Women's Day - 8 March 2010: this year the WiPC marked International Women's Day by highlighting and reflecting on the 14 women who are among the 50 emblematic cases featured in the WiPC's Because Writers Speak Their Minds anniversary actions. We also took the opportunity to renew actions on three of them who still face problems: Lydia Cacho of Mexico, Sihem Bensedrine of Tunisia, and Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, as well as to raise three current cases - in Vietnam, Russia and Iran. WiPC Women's Day Action 2010

Women Writers Committee

We are now on Facebook! Women from PEN Centres can sign up to facebook.com/InternationalPenWomenWritersCommittee. This will be a way to share and exchange news, views and ideas on a regular basis and we hope that this is a step that will encourage more PEN Centres to form Women's Committees and inform us of their activities via this network. We responded to a call for solidarity with a group of Iranian feminists to mark International Women's Day on 8 March by signing their petition on www.irangenderequality.com. Women such as Nawal el Saadawi, Julia Christeva and many women's organisations have signed it and it was supported by PEN Centres including Swedish PEN, who informed us of the campaign. Voice Virus, the regional women's conference in India has been postponed to spring 2011.

Writers for Peace Committee

The Peace Committee met last week in Bled in Slovenia for their 42nd conference organised jointly by Slovene PEN and the Writers for Peace Committee of International PEN. The themes of the conference round table events were ‘Globalisation: an opportunity for all or a new colonisation for many' and ‘Literature and Globalisatiton' while the theme of the Peace Committee round table was ‘Peace between diurnal and nocturnal dreams'. During the conference, participants enjoyed several literary events including an evening of Slovene poetry and music and an evening dedicated to Ismaïl Kadare.

Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee

The Committee continue to look at supporting more literature in translation and campaign for linguistic rights as a fundamental human right. The next meeting of the Committee is to take place in Barcelona from June 17 to 18. The theme of the meeting will be ‘Freedom of expression: meaning and limits'. All PEN Centres will be informed of the details of the meeting very soon.

PEN CENTRE NEWS

The Iberian American Foundation: the updated version of the Iberian American Foundation's website is now available. It contains the latest news on activities and the Freedom to Write in the Americas campaign, as well as its declaration signed by prominent writers from the region. The website was generously designed and is administered by Galician PEN under the leadership of the Centre's President, Luis González Tosar and its Secretary General (Director de la Oficina Técnica), Xabier Castro. Galician PEN is one of the Foundation's most active members. To visit the new website click here

Mexican PEN: Mexican PEN has created three new prizes in the categories of Excellence in literature, journalism, and publishing. Two prizes will be given in each category. With these prizes the Centre hopes to bring greater awareness to Mexico and increase the awareness with the problems with the killing of journalists. The ceremony will be held at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City on April 18th. The winners of the prizes will be announced in the June newsletter.

South African PEN: The PEN/Studzinski literary award is now open for entries. Writers from SADC countries are invited to submit original, previously unpublished, English-language short stories. Three prize winners will be selected by Nobel laureate J M Coetzee and the best entries will be selected by an editorial board for inclusion in a book to be published next year, entitled ‘African Pens 2011'. The deadline for submissions is 30th June 2010. Entrants are advised to read the detailed rules and conditions for submission, as available at www.sapen.co.za, or e-mail SA PEN at rudebs@icon.co.za to request a copy.

Melbourne PEN: We are delighted to announce that the Melbourne PEN Centre has moved into the new Wheeler Centre for Books Writing and Ideas. The Wheeler Centre is the centrepiece of Melbourne's UNESCO City of Literature Initiative. Melbourne was declared a UNESCO City of Literature at the end of 2009. The first event, ‘Double Jeopardy: Women Writers in Dangerous Places' to mark International Women's Day, was held there on March 14.

Hungarian and Uyghur PEN: After the success of the Ural-Altaic PEN Network's first conference last summer in Istanbul, the Hungarian and Uyghur PEN Centres will be hosting the International PEN Conference on Ural-Altaic Linguistics and Poetry in Taja, Hungary, May 26 - 30. The conference will bring together poets and linguists from countries where Ural or Altaic languages are spoken. The goal with this meeting is to engage writers within the region in international academic and literary exchanges as a step towards promoting open debate and freedom of speech. A publication will follow with 12 academic papers in English and a collection of original poetry in several languages.

Independent Chinese PEN (ICPC): On 22 March, ICPC held its annual Freedom to Write Award, Lin Zhao Memorial Award and Writers in Prison Award with a seminar on ‘Literature and Civil Society' in Hong Kong. Over 60 writers and journalists from Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guangdong as well as Taiwan, USA, Russia and Australia joined representatives from ICPC, Hong Kong Chinese PEN and PEN American Center in celebrating the work of Mr. Wang Jianhui (7th Freedom to Write Award), Ms. Tsering Woeser (5th Lin Zhao Memorial Award) and Dr. Xu Zerong (4th Writers in Prison Award). None of the three awardees could appear to receive their honours however as all of them have restricted freedom of movement in mainland China; one is serving a lengthy sentence in prison while the other two said that it was not advisable for them to travel to Hong Kong.

NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE

New season at the Southbank Centre in London
Philip Pullman retells the life of Jesus, Roddy Doyle on Dead Republic, Gil Scott Heron on his influences and politics, a world of literature with Derek Walcott, Richard Ford and Nawal El Saadawi, Yann Martel on Beatrice and Virgil, and the Orange Prize Readings - all of this and more at Southbank Centre this April - June 2010. Tickets on sale now: 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk

The next newsletter will be available in June 2010.

PEN Centres: please send your news for inclusion to Emily Bromfield, emily.bromfield@internationalpen.org.uk

Originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has over 140 Centres in 100 countries across the globe. Our primary goal is to engage with, and empower, societies and communities across cultures and languages, through reading and writing. We believe that writers can play a crucial role in changing and developing civil society. We do this through the promotion of literature, international campaigning on issues such as translation and freedom of expression and improving access to literature at international, regional and national levels. Our membership is open to all published writers who subscribe to the PEN Charter regardless of nationality, language, race, colour or religion. International PEN is a non-political organisation and has special consultative status at UNESCO and the United Nations.

International PEN, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER
Email: info@internationalpen.org.uk
Website: www.internationalpen.org.uk
International PEN is a registered charity, number 1117088
To find out more visit www.internationalpen.org.uk

PEN News: April 7, 2010‏

2010-04-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATES

Tickets to the PEN World Voices Festival are now on sale. Most events will sell out.

HELP WRITERS IN NEED

The PEN Writers’ Emergency Fund is a resource for professional writers in acute, emergency financial crisis and is available to both Members and non-Members. If you know of anyone in need of the Fund’s assistance, please contact us.

FIND PEN ONLINE

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ADVOCACY NEWS

Writers Press Iran to Release Jailed Colleagues
PEN Members Orhan Pamuk, Margaret Atwood, and E.L. Doctorow were among the more than 3,500 writers, journalists, and press freedom supporters to sign a petition calling for the release of dozens of imprisoned journalists, writers, and bloggers. >> More

K. Anthony Appiah Reelected as President of PEN
In his second year, the scholar, author, and critic Anthony Appiah hopes to expand PEN American Center’s campaigns to protect freedom of expression, win new financial support, and increase the visibility of PEN in the literary world and beyond. >> More

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, April 8:
LIVE STREAMING: Secularism, Islam, and Democracy:
Muslims in Europe and the West
PEN, the ACLU, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and Slate join forces to present Tariq Ramadan’s first public appearance in the U.S. since he was barred from entering the country in 2004. >> More

*This event will be live streamed here.*

Thursday, April 8:
PEN at AWP: Revisions of Truth
Don’t forget to stop by the PEN table if you are attending AWP in Denver. Also catch our event on writing and revision with Sapphire, Jackson Taylor, Marie Ponsot, and Philip Lopate. >> More

NEW AT PEN.ORG

VIDEO: “Reckoning with Torture” in Washington, D.C.
Watch writers and artists take the stage with a former military interrogator, a former CIA agent, and others to read from texts that detail the Bush administration’s “War on Terror”. >> More

Unsubscribe rawfkolkata@live.com from this list. Update your information.

PEN American Center | 588 Broadway, Suite 303 | NY, NY 10012 | (212) 334-1660

English PEN Events April 2010

2010-04-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Two Banned Plays – Events in London and Coventry________________________

We want to let all PEN members know about two public events on the issue of banned theatre, regarding two very different plays.

Behzti Five Years On

In our newsletter earlier this month we congratulated Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti on the opening of her new play, Behud. The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry will be holding two free discussions to accompany the final day of the premiere run, before the production transfers to London . We’d like to encourage PEN members living in the midlands to attend and help make the case for free speech in the theatre. In 2004 there were concerns that the fallout from the ‘Behzti affair’ would have a chilling effect on British theatre and that it would become increasingly difficult to stage controversial work. ‘Behzti Five Years On’ focuses on theatre in the Midlands , asking to what extent this has come true. Theatre has a distinct role in reflecting contemporary society, and in influencing, shaping, and interrogating our shared culture. Has theatre become too constrained by the fear of giving offence? What obligations do artists have towards the communities they depict? And what impact has the 'war on terror' and the government's security agenda had upon notions of free speech? Chaired by Kenan Malik (writer, broadcaster), author of From Fatwa to Jihad. Panellists: Giles Croft (Nottingham Playhouse); Hamish Glen (Belgrade Theatre), Sunny Hundal (Asians in the Media, liberalconspiracy.org), Trina Jones (Birmingham Rep), Hardish Virk (Multi Nation Arts).

Programme:

11am ‘Behzti Five Years on’ – panel discussion

2.45pm Behud by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, matinée performance

5pm Aftershow discussion chaired by Jo Glanville (Index on Censorship) with Lisa Goldman (Director), Hamish Glen and members of the cast.

The discussion events are free and the matinee performance is priced as on theatre website. For those who wish to attend the whole day we are offering a ticket priced £20, £10 concession to cover a light lunch, refreshments and the matinee performance. Call 024 7655 3055 to book tickets.

Moonfleece

We were dismayed to hear that another play has been cancelled in the midlands. The critically acclaimed Moonfleece, by the award winning playwright Phillip Ridley was cancelled by the Dormston Centre, Dudley, after fears of a backlash by far-right groups. The Dormston Centre feared the play was discriminatory and cancelled the performance. English PEN deplores this suppression of another theatrical performance, in an area which suffers from far-right extremism. We will be discussing the implications of these events after the Greenwich performance of Moonfleece. More details are available on the Greenwich Theatre website. We are planning a short campaign to remount the production in Dudley and Wolverhampton . Any PEN members who wish to co-sign a letter of protest should e-mail robert@englishpen.org giving your name, location and area of work. We are particularly keen to hear from theatre practitioners, playwrights, and members living in the Midlands .

50 Years of Writers in Prison _______________________

Friday 16 April, 1pm

Wolfson Theatre, London School of Economics, Lincoln ’s Inn Fields, London , WC2A 2AE

Tickets: £8

Come and celebrate 50 years of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee defending freedom of expression around the world at a Free the Word! festival event on Friday 16 April 1pm. Outspoken Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi and Georgian writer, performance artist and activist, Irakli Kakabadze will be talking about their work and challenging political systems with Michela Wrong, whose book, It’s Our Turn to Eat, tells the story of John Githongo, the Kenyan anti-corruption chief who turned whistleblower after uncovering a massive top-level scam.

The first 20 English PEN members to contact International PEN will receive a free ticket to this event. To reserve your place please email tickets@internationalpen.org.uk with ’50 English PEN’ in the subject line.

Free the Word! meets Beirut 39 ___________________________________

In association with the Hay Festival, English PEN and Bloomsbury Publishing

Wednesday 15 April, 1pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: This is a free event.

To celebrate the Hay Beirut 39 literature festival which coincides with Free the Word!, we welcome two writers to share their work with London audiences. Adania Shibli was twice awarded the Young Writer's Award of Palestine. Ala Hlehel has written short stories, television scripts and plays and took part in the international playwrights' residency at the Royal Court Theatre in 2003. Come and enjoy this free event and discover two new voices from the Middle East . The book Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN's Writers in Translation programme supported by Bloomberg.

The Ambassador’s Reception________________________________________________________________________

Radio 4

Saturday 10 April, 10.30am

"Being thrown out of the US embassy in Ankara with Arthur Miller - a voluntary exile - was one of the proudest moments of my life."

In 1985, Harold Pinter and Arthur Miller went on an historic PEN mission to Turkey to draw attention to the ruthless limits being set on freedom of expression in Turkey at that time, and the many writers languishing in prison. For BBC Radio 4, writer and journalist Maureen Freely retraces their footsteps and takes us on a journey across Istanbul into the homes and meeting places of the Turkish literati who in the 1980s were oppressed, imprisoned and tortured for their opinions. Until then the world had turned a blind eye to their plight. Did Pinter and Miller's trip draw attention to a regime that was cruelly persecuting its people or were hopes raised only to be quashed again with the realisation that military strategy was more important to the world than human rights? Evoking images of country full of promise yet stunted by doubt and distrust Maureen hears from painters, writers, and publishers - those who remember the trip vividly, those who were locked up for speaking their mind, and the new generation of authors. She finds out whether Turkey is a better, safer and freer place to be a writer today than it was in the spring of 1985 or whether having an opinion that deviates from the official line remains a dangerous path to tread. For more information, please click here.

English PEN Events

2010-01-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

English PEN’s Spring Writers in Public programme has already got off to a great start with sell-out events on European literature at the South Bank Centre and Francis King at the London Review Bookshop. Here are some of the events we have coming up in the next few weeks. Full details of our Writers in Public programme can also be found on the English PEN website: www.englishpen.org

We Are the Readers and Writers!

Thursday 28 January, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA

Tickets: £3; Ticket price includes a glass of wine and a free copy of The Light of the Lights

English PEN's creative writing department, Readers & Writers, presents a night of new voices from all over the world. Launching their hot-off-the-press book, The Light of the Lights, six writers from the English PEN workshops at the Migrants Resource Centre in Westminster will read poems and prose, hosted by writer Monique Roffey alongside special guests the Rhymes Won't Wait Collective. This new programme supported by the 2012 London Cultural Skills Fund celebrates London's contribution to the diversity of printed and well-crafted expression. Join us for this and our next launch event on March 25. To book, call Amy Oliver on 0207 324 2535 or visit www.englishpen.org/events

Balloon Debate

In association with Kings Place

Monday 1 February, 7pm

Venue: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG

Tickets: £9.50 online, £11.50 offline

A (metaphorical) hot air balloon is dipping dangerously over Croydon. In it are four of our greatest writers - but only one can survive. As the balloon loses height, the audience votes on which author must go, until only one remains. Our panel of four leading writers, Al Alvarez, Rowan Pelling, Deborah Moggach and Hardeep Singh Kohli, will each make an impassioned case for their favourite authors, but their fates are in your hands... Chaired by Jonathan Heawood. To book, call Kings Place Box Office on 0207 520 1490 or book online at www.kingsplace.co.uk

Must You Go?

Monday 9 February, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

Tickets: £5 PEN Members, £8 Non members, including glass of wine

Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser lived together from August 1975 until Pinter's death thirty-three years later on Christmas Eve 2008. Theirs was one of modern literature's most celebrated marriages and Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter is Antonia Fraser's marvellously insightful testimony to their relationship. Join us in celebrating their life together as Antonia talks to Lisa Appignanesi, president of English PEN. Tickets for this event are already selling fast so do book early to avoid disappointment. To book, call Amy Oliver on 0207 324 2535 or visit www.englishpen.org/events

Campaign for Jaballa Matar

2010-01-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

Campaign for Jaballa Matar

Authors urge Miliband to stand up for Human Rights in Libya

Jaballa Matar

A group of award-winning writers has today sent an open letter to David Miliband, demanding that he seek information on the Libyan democracy activist Jaballa Matar. Matar was abducted in 1990, and imprisoned without charge in Libya's notorious Abu Salim prison. Held completely incommunicado, it was feared that he was killed in a prison massacre in 1996. However, a Human Rights Watch Report released last month reported that Matar had been seen in a Tripoli High Security prison in 2002, giving free speech activists fresh hope that he may still be alive.

Jaballa is the father of the novelist Hisham Matar, whose book In The Country of Men was shortlisted for the Booker Prizer in 2006. Members of PEN, the international association of writers, including Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood, and Nobel laureates JM Coetzee, Wole Soyinka and Orhan Pamuk, have co-signed a

letter to the Foreign Secretary, asking him to take up the case of Jaballa Matar with the Libyan government.

Booker Prize winner Ian McEwan said:

'Ten years ago Libya was a pariah among nations. Its rehabilitation into the international community has been spectacular. Last year it held the presidencies of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. But this new respectability is hollow while Libya's human rights record remains abysmal. The notorious Internal Security Agency is still a law unto itself. Jaballa Matar has been held without trial for twenty years. For a long time his family feared he was dead. Unknown hundreds share his situation.

The hope is that David Miliband and his colleagues in other foreign ministries will raise Matar's case, and human rights generally, with Colonel Gaddafi's government. There is some reason to think that it might be ready now to listen. Libya is a strange, proud and beautiful country - I spent the greater part of my childhood there. I would like the Foreign Secretary to make the case to the Colonel that these abuses of individual liberty, of due process and of freedom of expression and association diminish his country, however many presidencies it holds. For Jaballa Matar to be reunited with his family would be the true sign of Libya's political maturity.'

Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Zadie Smith said:

'Hisham Matar is my friend and respected colleague, and he has suffered a great personal tragedy - but a tragedy that's now also a public scandal. Britain's eagerness to rehabilitate Gaddafi's regime in order to further British business interests, particularly those of BP, must be qualified and subject to demands for Libya to improve the human rights of its citizens. Gordon Brown must ask for the immediate release of Libya's "disappeared", those held, like Hisham's father, without trial and in secret.'

Jonathan Heawood, Director of English PEN, said:

'Jaballa Matar is fortunate to have a son as dedicated, and as highly respected in the West, as Hisham. Most of Libya's political prisoners, including writers and journalists, are truly isolated from the world. I hope that the support for this campaign shows Libya that in order to improve their standing in the outside world they will also have to improve their relationship with their own people.'

Michael Ondaatje said:

'It is twenty years since Jaballa Matar was stolen from his family. He has never been charged or tried, and his fundamental rights have been grotesquely violated. If the Libyan Government really wants to establish a better reputation on the world stage, it must first redress such human rights abuses. If it can't at least do this, then what value is Britain's new-found relationship with this regime?'

Full Text of letter to Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP, Foreign Secretary

15th January 2009

Sir,

Jaballa Matar, father of the 2006 Man Booker shortlisted and 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize winning British author Hisham Matar, was one of the most prominent Libyan political activists. He continually called for democracy, the rule of law and justice in Libya. He was kidnapped from his home in Cairo in 1990. His family has not seen him since. Letters written by Jaballa Matar were smuggled out of Libya's political prison, Abu Salim, in 1992 and 1995. They confirmed that the Egyptian authorities held him in Cairo for two days then handed him over to Libyan officials. He was then flown to Tripoli, tortured and subjected to arbitrary detention. He was seen in 2002 in another, secret political prison in Tripoli. His family, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International believe him still to be in Libya. However, the Libyan government continues to deny any knowledge of his whereabouts and that of others amongst Libya's disappeared. Jaballa Matar is yet to be granted an open trial.

We urge Her Majesty's government to use its new relationship with the Libyan government to demand sincere and significant improvements in Libya's human rights record. We therefore ask the Foreign Office whether, having regard to the latest Human Rights Watch report published on 12th December 2009 in which Jaballa Matar's case is documented, it will seek information from the Libyan government about the whereabouts of Jaballa Matar and other political prisoners.

Yours sincerely,

Hisham Matar

Lisa Appignanesi President, English PEN

Carole Seymour-Jones Chair, Writers in Prison Committee, English PEN

JM Coetzee

Orhan Pamuk

Wole Soyinka

Margaret Atwood

Kiran Desai

Anne Enright

Alan Hollinghurst

Ian McEwan

Michael Ondaatje

Roddy Doyle

Sir Salman Rushdie

Kazuo Ishiguro

Lord Lester of Herne Hill

Carole Ann Duffy

Sir Andrew Motion

Monica Ali

Nadeem Aslam

Trezza Azzopardi

Adam Foulds

Linda Grant

Mohsin Hamid

MJ Hyland

Ali Smith

Zadie Smith

Eva Hoffman

Sir Tom Stoppard

Hari Kunzru

David Edgar

Sir David Hare

Sigrid Rausing

Philippe Sands, QC

Ruth Padel

And 200 others

http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/campaigns/jaballa-matar/

Peru: Newspaper editor jailed for defamation

2010-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

Peru: Newspaper editor jailed for defamation

Published: January 18, 2010

English PEN protests the one-year prison sentence handed down to Nor Oriente editor Alejandro Carrascal Carrasco on 12 January 2010 for alleged "aggravated defamation" of a local official in a case dating back to 2005. There were a number of apparent irregularities in the trial and it is widely believed that Carrascal's conviction is in retaliation for his criticism of the authorities, in violation of his right to freedom of expression. We are therefore calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

Alejandro Carrascal Carrasco, director and editor of the regional weekly newspaper Nor Oriente, was arrested in Bagua, capital of Utcumbamba province, Amazonas department, on 11 January and held in police custody overnight. He appeared in court the next day where he was given a one-year prison sentence for allegedly defaming a local official in a series of articles alleging corruption in the Utcumbamba technological institute. The case was brought by a former director of the institute in 2005.

Carrascal, who reportedly suffers from high bloody pressure, fainted during the hearing and was taken to hospital. However, the judge completed the sentencing in his absence and the editor was transferred the same day from hospital to the San Humberto prison in Bagua. He has reportedly appealed the sentence.

There were a number of apparent irregularities in the trial. In addition to being sentenced in absentia, Carrascal says he had not received any notification that the court's decision was due. According to one local press report, the defamation case against him had previously been abandoned by the plaintiff.

Local journalists and Carrascal's family have condemned his conviction as an act of "revenge" and the prison sentence is widely seen as punishment for his editorial line. Nor Oriente is said to be very critical of the authorities and Carrascal has been outspoken in his defence of the indigenous population and the Amazon region. For example, he publically criticized the government over the security forces' treatment of indigenous communities protesting against oil and mining projects in Bagua in June 2009 during which dozens of indigenous people were killed, scores were detained and around 200 injured.

Background

This is the second case of a well-known Peruvian journalist being imprisoned for defamation in just over a year. Television presenter Magaly Medina was given a five-month sentence in October 2008 for allegedly defaming a football player. She was released at the end of 2008 after serving half of her sentence.

Useful links

- Report by Reporters Without Borders (13 January 2010) (English) (Spanish)
• Report by the International Press Institute (IPI) (13 January 2010) (English only)

Please send appeals:

- Protesting the one-year prison sentence handed down to Nor Oriente editor Alejandro Carrascal Carrasco on 12 January 2010 for alleged "aggravated defamation" of a local official in a case dating back to 2005;
- Pointing out that there were a number of apparent irregularities in Carrascal's trial, including his reportedly not being notified of the final hearing and being sentenced in absentia;

- Expressing concern that Carrascal's conviction is in retaliation for his critical reporting on the authorities, in violation of his right to freedom of expression;

- Calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

Appeals to:

Dr. Alan García Pérez
Presidente de la República del Perú
Jr. de la Unión S/N 1ra.

Cuadra, Cercado de Lima

Lima

Peru
Fax: 51 1 311 3940

Email messages can be sent to the President by clicking here.
Salutation: Su Excelencia/ Your Excellency

Minister of Justice
Dr. Aurelio Pastor Valdivieso,
Ministro de Justicia
Scipión Llona N° 350, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
Fax: 51 1 422 3577
Email: apastor@minjus.gob.pe
Salutation: Señor Ministro/Dear Minister

Please also send copies of your appeals to you the Peruvian Embassy asking for their comments:

His Excellency Ricardo V. Luna
Peruvian Embassy
52 Sloane Street
London
SW1X 9SP

Fax: 00 44 20 7235 4463
postmaster@peruembassy-uk.com

http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/perunewspapereditorjailedfordefamation/

China: Writer and Independent Chinese PEN Officer Zhao Shiying detained

2010-01-22T19:22:00.000-08:00

China: Writer and Independent Chinese PEN Officer Zhao Shiying detained

Published: January 18, 2010

English PEN condemns the detention of Zhao Shiying, Secretary General of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC), who was arrested on 11 January 2010. He is being held incommunicado without charge, and there are fears that he is held for his dissident writings and activities. We are shocked by the arrest of yet another leading ICPC member, and are seeking details of any charges against Zhao Shiyang as a matter or urgency. Furthermore, we continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.

American PEN gives the following background:

Zhao Shiying, pen name Zhao Dagong, is a well-known dissident writer and human rights defender from Shenzhen. He joined the Independent Chinese PEN Center in 2004, and has been a member of its Board since 2005. In October 2009, Zhao become ICPC's Secretary General. He has been regularly harassed by police since December 2008, but this is the first time that his home has been searched and materials confiscated.

According to PEN's information, at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 11, ten police officers entered Zhao's home and searched the premises, confiscating two computers, books, and notes. Following the search, which lasted more than seven hours, Zhao, his wife, and his son were taken to the local police station. His wife and son were released around 9:00 p.m. that same night, but were warned not to disclose the content of their questioning. The two were again called in for questioning the following evening, but were released the same night. Zhao Shiying remains in detention.

PEN fears that Zhao is being held for his very public support for former ICPC President Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison on December 25, 2009, for "inciting subversion of state power" in six articles he had written and his involvement in Charter 08. Zhao is also an original signatory of the Charter, and was questioned about his communications with Liu regarding the Charter's content. Zhao's answers were used in the Beijing Procuratorate's verdict against Liu.

According to our information, Zhao Shiyang has been interrogated several times since December 2008 about his involvement with dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, and his statements were included in the Court Verdict against Liu. On 27 December 2009, Zhao Shiyang published an online essay entitled 'Liu Xiaobo's Banner! - Birthday Wishes to Liu Xiaobo' in which he reaffirmed his willingness to share responsibility with Liu for the publishing of Charter 08. There are fears that Zhao's arrest is part of a crackdown on signatories of Charter 08 and on the Independent Chinese PEN Centre.

For further background on the sentencing of Liu Xiaobo and Charter 08, please click here.

Please send appeals:

- Expressing serious concern about the arrest of leading dissident writer and activist Zhao Shiying, and seeking further details of any charges against him;
- Calling for his immediate and unconditional release if held in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.

Send appeals to:

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China

Mr. Meng Jianzhu
Minister of the Public Security
East Chang'an Avenue 14
100741 Beijing
P.R. China

Please note that there are no fax numbers for the Chinese authorities. We therefore recommend that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in the UK asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments:

Her Excellency Fu Ying
49-51 Portland Place
London
W1B 1JL

http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/chinawriterandindependentchinesepenofficerdetained/

UPDATE: LIU XIAOBO PRESS EVENT/RALLY LOCATION‏

2009-12-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

31 December 2009 01:07AM

Dear Friends:

Tomorrow’s press event/rally to protest the conviction of Liu Xiaobo in China will take place ON THE FRONT STEPS OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, 42nd Street at 5th Avenue, at 11:00 a.m.

We are hoping for a large turnout of PEN supporters to send a strong image, and message, of solidarity. Please join us for this event, which kicks off a year that marks the 50th year of PEN’s organized efforts to defend writers under threat around the world.

Many thanks,
Larry Siems
Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs

American PEN Center
contact:
info@pen.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------

As you have heard, the Chinese government has sentenced our colleague Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison in China.

This Thursday, we will hold an outdoor press event in midtown Manhattan to protest the verdict and press for Liu’s release. We believe this is both a good way to underscore PEN’s commitment to this case and to ring in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of PEN’s organized efforts to defend imprisoned and persecuted writers around the world.

Please join us for this important show of solidarity.

The event will take place at 11 a.m. at a convenient midtown Manhattan location—we will e-mail final details tomorrow. Additional details appear below.

Many thanks, and all best wishes for the New Year,

K. Anthony Appiah
Steve Isenberg
Larry Siems

This Thursday, New Year’s Eve, PEN will hold an outdoor press event in midtown Manhattan to demand the release of Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced on Christmas Day to 11 years in prison for his writings in China.

The press event will feature several prominent Members of PEN American Center reading short passages from Liu’s work. The event begins promptly at 11 a.m. and will last about ½ hour.

The event rings in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of PEN’s activism on behalf of writers who are jailed or face persecution because of their work. Joseph Brodsky, Wole Soyinka, Vaclav Havel, Jose Revueltas, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Alicia Portnoy, Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, and Taslima Nasreen, are just a few of the hundreds of writers PEN has freed or defended over the years.

There are currently almost 1,000 writers on PEN’s list of writers and journalists in danger because of their work. Leading the list is Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s most prominent writers and a past president and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, which is doing on-the-ground PEN advocacy in China. Liu was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” for co-authoring “Charter 08,” a petition calling for political and human rights reforms in China, and for seven sentences in five articles he published on the internet that are critical of Chinese authorities.

PEN American Center President Kwame Anthony Appiah called his 11-year sentence “a scandal” and “a mockery,” and PEN Members around the world have vowed to step up efforts to win his release.

International PEN Newsletter December 2009

2009-12-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

International Pen News Letter
International PEN Newsletter December 2009

This is my first chance to write to all of you after the Congress and the election in Linz. A great deal was said by delegates and candidates around the elections for president and for the board of trustee positions. It was a vigorous and transparent campaign, which can only be good for the world's leading freedom of expression organisation.

I only wish more of the Centres had been able to send delegates. This is a long standing financial problem, but perhaps also a conceptual problem. Somehow we have to make progress on this, because having Centres at Congresses is one of the ways of strengthening both Centres and our international role.

The priorities I talked about during the election are very much in line with what I have been hearing from PEN Centres around the world: reinforcing the role of our three official languages, finding ways to bring forward our multitude of languages, focusing on the accelerating threats to minority languages, and worst of all to indigenous languages. Hundreds are disappearing. The disappearance of a language and thus much of a people's culture is the ultimate loss of both literature and freedom of expression.

Within PEN the regionalisation which is beginning may be a tool for strengthening languages and drawing in new generations of writers. This regionalisation is also a way of creating strong conversations and debates within PEN regions and among them. A flat organisation can only be strengthened by such debates.

Perhaps it is also time for us to begin thinking about strengthening our Centres and our voice by reaching out into schools and universities in search of another kind of membership - students who support literature and freedom of expression. Some Centres have started down this road. This is something to think about and talk about. Of more immediate concern is the need to reinforce our various writer in exile initiatives. I have seen over the last few years how a number of our Centres have found new national energy by taking on writers who have been forced into the silent prison of exile.

What makes PEN essential in the world is our attachment to the marriage of literature and freedom of expression. These are not separate causes requiring a choice. They are one and the same. It is the balanced combination of literature and freedom of expression which has always defined our role in the world. I am looking forward to coming to the different regions of PEN, listening to your ideas and helping to move these ideas around among our Centres and members.

John Ralston Saul, International President

--------------------------------8----------------------------------

This will be the last letter that I write to you, not only in 2009, but in this decade. Looking back I sincerely hope that next year, (not to mention the ten years after that), will show an improvement worldwide. I can not see that many positive events took place these first ten years of the 21st century. As a matter of fact I believe that for millions of people, it will be regarded with horror. In PEN though I like to think we managed to improve a lot - although I feel much is left to achieve in the years to come.

Since the last newsletter we have staged our 75th Congress. In Linz many of us met and as usual the Congress days were a mixture of good and interesting events. To arrange these Congresses will I guess remain just as important as they are difficult. As I see it we should never forget the amount of good will and hard and time-consuming work, sometimes beyond the limits of our capacity, which many fellow PEN members take on to give us the opportunity to experience these events. I feel the need to express my deep felt gratitude to Austrian PEN and those who arranged the Congress.

Now it is time to look forward. And what do I wish for PEN in the year 2010? 2009 saw the creation of the Ural-Altay solidarity network, of new Centres, as well as the revival of Albanian PEN. The second Free the Word! festival in London as well as the first in Linz, Guadalajara, Kingston and Dakar took place and prepared the way for coming literary events in various countries next year. We took new initiatives to close the distance between the growing Middle East literatures and the western dominated written world. Our work in many African countries developed in a most promising way. And despite the world economic crises the PEN finances managed to float.

So, my primary hope for the next PEN year? To grow and deepen the relationship between our Centres, and between our Centres and us in International PEN, and that we all will experience an enriching and fruitful 2010!

A happy new year to all of you from
Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary
----------------------8-----------------------------------

I was delighted to spend some time with so many of you at the 75th International PEN Congress in Linz a few weeks ago. I am always inspired to hear about the important work you have been doing since we last met. Those of you who were unable to join us in Linz have also been very much in my thoughts.

Alongside our conversations and exchanges, a number of important decisions were made by the Assembly of Delegates. Significantly, this included the overwhelming vote in favour of 'Our Story - the plan for the next three years.' It is wonderful to have your support for this plan and to have a shared set of goals which we will look to achieve together in the coming years. I am particularly grateful to all of you who participated in the questionnaire and interviews which informed the development of 'Our Story'.

Looking back over the period of the current plan (2007-2009), which we are now reaching the end of, I feel that we have made good progress in developing our organisation to address the challenges of the world around us; we have re-launched PEN International magazine with it's first dedicated editor, re-launched the website in three languages for the first time, we have established a new festival of world literature, Free the Word!, which will take place in nine countries in its current cycle, strengthened the capacity of the Writers in Prison Committee, launched regional programmes which now include almost half of the PEN Centres, as well as seeing the opening of many new PEN Centres. Whilst we can be proud of the progress which we have made, there is still much work to be done to ensure that we are reaching as many people worldwide as we can and that our work is having the maximum impact possible.

What is clear is that this can only be achieved by ensuring that we continue to work in harmony and this requires us to retain the sense of community that binds us together. Whilst we cannot always be together at Congress, the daily messages and conversations we share about the things that matter to us; literature, language and freedom of expression, continue to be at the heart of organisation.

My best wishes to you all and I look forward to talking to you in 2010!

Caroline McCormick, Executive Director
-----------------------------8-----------------------------
Special feature: celebrating the work of the PEN Centres in the Asia and the Pacific region and the work of International PEN's regional programmes

Over the past two years this newsletter has highlighted the work being carried out by PEN Centres in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2007, International PEN began a new way of collaborating with Centres region by region across the world. These International Programmes focus on strengthening PEN Centres and programmes exploring the role of the writer in civil society, the role of reading and writing in empowering communities, and the role culture plays in development and human rights.

Earlier this year, the International Programmes team met with PEN Centres in the Asia and Pacific region. This newsletter turns the spotlight on their activities and goals, which are as diverse as the geographical area itself. The International Programmes team is looking forward to working with these Centres over the coming year to support and help grow these activities.

Afghanistan PEN has a packed calendar of literary events, with every day of the month dedicated to a different theme, ranging from celebrating emerging authors to promoting women's writing. The Centre is heavily involved in educational programmes, which include writers' workshops in schools, blog competitions, interactive poetry via mobile phones, providing consultancy services on how to make education tools more engaging, and recording an album of educational music for Afghan children. Since its establishment in 2003 the Centre has also campaigned on freedom of expression issues within the country.

The PEN All India Centre was established in 1930. The Centre is currently enjoying a packed programme of activity, with 92 events organised over the past four years, working under the mission statement of ‘Breathing Literature into Life'. The Centre also undertakes freedom of expression advocacy work, and in the future hopes to strengthen its current levels of visibility in both the literary and advocacy areas.

Bangladesh PEN was founded in 1974. Education work is a priority for the Centre, which has in the past run programmes providing education and learning materials for street children. The Centre also coordinates literary programmes such as the celebration of figures of national importance.

Hong Kong Chinese-Speaking PEN was established in 1955. The Centre currently has over 40 members who meet regularly and publishes a literary journal. The Centre also helps its members to apply for official sponsors for the publication of books. The main area of concern and activity for the Hong Kong Chinese-Speaking PEN is freedom of expression in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Independent Chinese PEN was founded in 2001. The Centre has 250 members, approximately half of whom are based in China and half spread across various countries. The Centre's main area of activity is the Writers in Prison Committee, which works closely with International PEN to disseminate information and release statements protesting the actions of the Chinese government. In 2008 the Centre held a World Press Freedom Day event in Hong Kong, participated in the International PEN Poem Relay, and collaborated with the American and Canadian PEN Centres on the ‘We are ready for free expression' campaign.

Japan PEN (the Japan PEN Club) was founded in 1935. With a membership of 1500 writers, Japan PEN is a well-established voice in the country's literary landscape and has a strong presence in the national media. The Centre carries out a regular programme of committee-based activities and is particularly involved in questions of freedom of expression, peace, environment, children's literature, translation, and women's writing.

Korea PEN was established in 1954 and became a member of International PEN in 1955; it has over 300 members. The Centre holds a regular series of seminars, lectures, and poetry recitals. It also awards literary prizes and publishes a quarterly literary journal. It is currently preparing to host the International PEN World Congress in 2012.

Melbourne PEN was founded in 1925. The Centre has a regular presence at the Melbourne Writers' festival, and is also involved in freedom of expression advocacy work and promoting women's writing. In 2001 the Centre launched the Asia and Pacific Writers Network (www.apwn.net), which functions as a website and aims to promote literary exchange amongst writers in the Asia and Pacific region; translation is a priority for the Centre. Moreover, up until the recent handover at the Linz Congress the Chair of the International PEN Women Writer's Committee was based in Melbourne PEN.

Nepal PEN has existed since 1980. In the last year Nepal PEN has organised visits from established writers and poetry workshops. It has also begun publishing a regular newsletter. In the immediate future Nepal PEN hopes to develop a collaboration with the UNESCO office in Kathmandu, and organise a seminar on the subject of intellectual property law.

New Zealand PEN has existed since 1934 and focuses largely on freedom of expression. Of the programme of activities that the Centre undertakes, the most important is the yearly Courage Day, which takes its name from the gay-rights activist and journalist, James Courage, and raises awareness about journalists and writers who continue to face prosecution today. Additionally, the Writers in Prison Committee is active throughout the year.

Pakistan PEN was established in 2002. The Centre has focused largely on education projects, working to encourage young writers at school and university level. The Centre has also set up an annual First Book award. It has its own website (www.penpakistan.org) and produces a regular newsletter as well as a literary journal, written in six languages.

Philippines PEN was founded in 1957. The Centre holds an annual congress, and in 2007 it celebrated its 50th anniversary with an event held at the National Museum of the Philippines under the title of ‘Literature, Nation and Globalization'. Philippines PEN has also published three PEN anthologies and provided teacher training in different regions of the country. During the Marcos dictatorship many PEN members were arrested and imprisoned. Representatives from the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN travelled to Manila twice to press the government to release the writers. Since the end of the dictatorship in 1986 the Centre has continued to publish papers and resolutions on questions of freedom of expression, including campaigning and protests against the disappearance of journalists, as well as against the recent government-imposed levy on imported books.

Sydney PEN was established in 1931 and has over 150 members around Australia. The Centre has a very active Writers in Prison Committee: in the past twelve months their focus has been on grassroots advocacy for writers in the Asia and Pacific region; including a strong presence at the Sydney Writers' Festival resulting in a letter-writing campaign for six different writers on the Writers in Prison Committee case list, and an Empty Chair Community Campaign that has seen the Empty Chair adopted by local libraries, universities and cultural events around NSW. In 2009, the Centre has been supported by the Copyright Agency Limited, BarNet, the New South Wales State Library and the University of Technology Sydney to run a programme of literary events. One of the Centre's priorities for 2010 is to build a strong web presence so as to maintain its visibility and expand the scope of its extensive work on freedom of expression; and to launch an annual translation exchange fellowship in the region.

Uyghur PEN was officially established in 2008. Since its inception the Centre has been working towards the twin aims of raising awareness about Uyghur culture and campaigning for Uyghur writers facing persecution from the Chinese government. Uyghur PEN seeks to build bridges between the Uyghur community and the Han Chinese, rather than to widen the divide. In 2009 the Centre organised the first Ural-Altay Solidarity Network meeting for writers in Central Asia. In 2010 the Centre plans to launch of a campaign in support of Uyghur writer Nurmehemmet Yasin.

Tibetan Writers Abroad PEN was established in 1999 in Dharamsala and currently has 68 members, mostly based in India but also spread across Europe and the US. Writers in Tibet are also affiliated with the Centre. As a Centre in exile, its twin priorities are to preserve the written and spoken Tibetan language, and to campaign for freedom of expression in China. The Centre publishes a newspaper that includes traditional literature and poetry, as well as social and political commentary which is distributed to students and teachers. The Centre also carries out a regular programme of visits and workshops to Tibetan exile schools in India, teaching reading and writing skills.

Taipei Chinese PEN exists since 1959 and currently has approximately 50 members. The Centre organises visits to remote or less privileged communities to promote literacy through reading and writing. Its also regularly organises literary salons and lectures, as well as publishing a quarterly bilingual journal of contemporary literature.
Reminder! The last chance to help us build a new logo for PEN

We invite you to make your mark! Please send us letter-forms from the alphabet/s of the language/s that you speak and write. Include also any letter-forms in your language that are unique or especially beautiful. Letters should be hand-written by a member of your PEN Centre, and scanned, emailed, faxed or posted to Emily Bromfield emily.bromfield@internationalpen.org.uk.

We will take a sample of letters from the different alphabets from all the Centres to form PEN's new logo. With a unifying brand image that will help us make our work better known, locally and internationally, we can strengthen the visibility, recognition and trust of PEN around the world. We need your contributions by 4th January 2010.
Free the Word! London 2010

Next year's Free the Word! in London is already beginning to take shape. From the 14th to 18th April, it will mark the end of our first year of the global festival that has seen events celebrating the best contemporary writing from around the world.

Continuing with the theme of ‘Words, Words, Nothing but Words ... ?' taken from Shakespeare's Troilus & Cressida, Free the Word! in London in 2010 will see an extra day of great writers and interesting events. Venues along London's Southbank will play host to today's literary stars including Nawal El Saadawi, Kamau Brathwaite, Rutu Modan, Juan Gabriel Vasquez, Gillian Slovo and Richard Ford, as well as celebrating the writers of tomorrow. It already looks like it will be a festival to remember.
Writers in Prison Committee

Writers in Prison Committee

A new Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, Marian Botsford Fraser, was elected at the 75th International PEN Congress in Linz, Austria this October. To read more about Marian and to read the first of her monthly pieces focussing on Writers in Prison issues, click here. To contact Marian you can email her at wipc@internationalpen.org.uk

On 15 November 2009, International PEN's membership of writers' worldwide commemorated their colleagues who are imprisoned, attacked and even killed. In any given year PEN is monitoring around 1,000 cases of attacks on writers, journalists and publishers. Of these around 200 are in prison, some serving sentences of over 20 years. Others are suffering unfair trials, harassment and threats. Each year PEN focuses on five of these writers, one from each world region. This year they were:

Cameroon - Lapiro de Mbanga - a singer-song writer in prison since April 2008 for his lyrics and criticism of the government

Iran - Maziar Bahari - an editor imprisoned then released on bail for his part in the June democracy demonstrations

China - Liu Xiaobo -a literary critic and activist arrested in December last year and still detained without trial

Russia - Natalia Estemirova - a journalist and human rights defender brutally murdered in Chechnya in July

Mexico - Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez Ávila - an anthropologist, author and indigenous rights activist murdered over a year ago

PEN also focussed on 33 other print journalists killed since November 2008. Seven of the killings were in Russia, six in Mexico, and four each in India and Pakistan.

During the days surrounding 15 November, PEN members around the world sent protests to governments, issued petitions, wrote articles, and staged events. Panel debates, readings, musical performances and other PEN Centre activities were staged in Berlin, Lugano, Zurich, Geneva, Barcelona, Agramunt (Catalunya), Potenza (Italy), Auckland, Glasgow, Oslo, Stockholm, London, Nairobi, Los Angeles, Accra, Sydney and elsewhere.

f you would like to read the full report and recommendations, please contact Tamsin Mitchell at tamsin.mitchell@internationalpen.org.uk

Translation & Linguistic Rights Committee

The Translation & Linguistic Rights Committee had positive meetings during the International PEN Congress in Linz, Austria in October. The meetings provided the opportunity to review the recent work of the Committee, as well as the planning and development of focuses for translation and linguistic rights work during the next year in PEN Centres throughout the world. This included issues such as how to connect with social initiatives on translation such as festivals, prizes, exhibitions, the importance of getting in touch with non-standardized (oral) languages, and how to improve coordination among the Committee's Centres. During the meeting, four UNESCO funded delegates delivered papers covering key themes in the Committees' remit and development plans. These ranged from: the developmental issues raised by Zeinab Koumanthio Diallo in her paper entitled ‘langues nationales, traduction, éducation et développement durable'; to the historical and cultural importance of living in a plurilingual society, as discussed by Solomon Hailemarian Erba in his paper on ancient languages and literatures in Ethiopia; to the pragmatic dimension in defending languages evoked by Dalmira Telepergenova with her presentation on language and the Ural-Altay solidarity network; to a Zambian case on the gain and loss of translation presented by Nicholas Kawinga.

Women Writers Committee

The Women Writers Committee elected a new Chair at the 75th International PEN Congress in Linz, Austria, in October. Kadija George is a member of African Writers Abroad PEN and has been an active member of the Women Writers Committee for several years. To read more about Kadija, click here. In 2010, the Women Writers Committee will be focussing on how to creatively connect women writers across the world, to share skills, advice, knowledge and more. They will also be looking to support the upcoming regional women's conference in India. For more information or to get in touch with Kadija, email her at ipwwcommittee@gmail.com

Writers for Peace Committee

The Peace Committee has continued to work since the congress in Linz. For Peace in the Middle East, Zeki Ergas has written an open letter to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Sylvestre Clancier is working with some famous Israeli and francophone writers towards an international meeting in Haifa. We are currently seeking sources of financing to invite them to the International Conference and the meeting of the Peace Committee in Bled in Slovenia in March 2010. Our chairman, Eugene Schoulgin, is also assisting us and making a lot of contact with the writers in the Middle East. We continue to distribute the call for sustainable development and the protection of nature which was adopted in Linz. We have organised several press conferences in various European countries and we are working with the other organisations during the Copenhagen Conference to establish a favourable climate for nature. We are also continuing the interventions for freedom of the press in Russia and the protection of minority cultures in China. We welcome the activities of REN Russia and the active contact which some members of International PEN are making with them. The situations in Iran and Afghanistan remain worrying. We are following events closely and we are preparing letters to the authorities in these countries. The Vice-President of the Peace Committee, Teresa Salema, has created the Committee Blog, which can be found at: www.penclubeportugues.org . Preparations for the Conference in Bled in March 2010 are well underway. The famous writer Ismael Kadare has confirmed his attendance. The President of International PEN, John Ralston Saul, has also been invited.

Writers in Exile Network

A high number of PEN Centres, some of them not previously associated with the network, convened during the International PEN Congress in Linz to discuss the network's future. There was a general agreement that PEN should be engaged in exile issues and that the network should be upheld, to discuss issues and share knowledge at Congress and other conferences where possible. There was also general agreement to work in close cooperation with ICORN. Representatives from the US, German, Dutch, Pakistani, Canadian, Swedish, Iranian (in exile), Swiss-Italian, Finnish, Austrian, Scottish, Vietnamese, Gaelic, Swiss-Italian, Uyguhr, English and Norwegian PEN participated, as did representatives from ICORN and staff from the International PEN office. All Centres, no matter how big or small, are invited to join the network in order to further exchange information and experiences. For more information and to join, contact the Chair of the Exile Network, Carl Morten Iversen of Norwegian PEN at pen@norskpen.no

The next newsletter will be available in March 2010.

PEN Centres: please send your news for inclusion to Emily Bromfield, emily.bromfield@internationalpen.org.uk

Originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has 144 Centres in 102 countries across the globe. Our primary goal is to engage with, and empower, societies and communities across cultures and languages, through reading and writing. We believe that writers can play a crucial role in changing and developing civil society. We do this through the promotion of literature, international campaigning on issues such as translation and freedom of expression and improving access to literature at international, regional and national levels. Our membership is open to all published writers who subscribe to the PEN Charter regardless of nationality, language, race, colour or religion. International PEN is a non-political organisation and has special consultative status at UNESCO and the United Nations.

John Berger wins Golden PEN Award

2009-12-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 1 December
John Berger wins Golden PEN Award

English PEN today announced the winner of the Golden PEN Award as John Berger. The award is given annually to an accomplished writer whose body of work has had a profound impact on readers and who is held in high regard by fellow writers and the literary community. It is also important that the recipient’s ethos is consistent with, and supportive of, the values upheld by English PEN.

The winner is elected by the Trustees of English PEN, who represent a membership of more than one thousand writers and literary professionals. The award will be presented to Berger, along with a golden pen and a cheque for £1,000, at the English PEN Christmas Party on Monday 7 December at the Artworker’s Guild in London. Previous winners of the award include JG Ballard, Josephine Pullein-Thompson, Michael Holroyd, Doris Lessing and Harold Pinter.

An English art critic, novelist, painter and author, Berger is best known for his novel G., which won the 1972 Booker Prize, and for his essays on art criticism Ways of Seeing. His most recent books are Why Look at Animals? a collection of essays, where Berger analyses the marginalisation of animals, and Mural, a translation along with Rema Hammami of Mahmoud Darwish’s epic masterpiece.

Lisa Appignanesi, President of English PEN said: “I am delighted that the Golden PEN 2009 is to be awarded to John Berger. His novels have enlivened readers of fiction for generations. So, too, have his luminous essays, which bring the far as near as your hand: they make us look afresh at the world, at animals, at politics, at all our relations. His Ways of Seeing changed the course of art criticism and practice, alike. His work in film and theatre, perhaps most notably with Complicite, bears as unique an imprint as his poems, drawings, and translations. Throughout, his passion for justice shines: most recently that has taken him into 'the world's largest waiting room' which is the West Bank, and 'the world's largest prison', Gaza. I can think of no better life in writing and no writer who does more honour to the Golden PEN than does John Berger by accepting it.”

Geoff Dyer, who will deliver the encomium at the prizegiving commented: “I can think of no worthier recipient of the Golden PEN 2009 Award: in the unparalleled range of his work, in his extraordinary originality and innovation, in his unflagging commitment and limitless compassion, John Berger is exemplary both as a writer and as a human being.”

English PEN is the founding centre of International PEN, a worldwide association of writers with centres in 104 countries around the world, and works to promote literature as a means of intercultural understanding; to promote freedom of speech; and to build a world community of writers.

English PEN is actively involved in a range of campaigns to help protect persecuted writers, promote freedom of expression and encourage interest in and access to literature.

Recent campaigns and projects include:

Publishing a report, following a year-long inquiry in conjunction with Index on Censorship, which outlines recommendations for reforming the UK’s outdated and oppressive libel laws. For more information see www.libelreform.org

Helping refugees, asylum seekers and those whose first language is not English improve their reading and writing skills and providing a forum for discussion and publication of their work.

Campaigning on behalf of persecuted and imprisoned writers in countries where they may not be given a fair trial and where censorship abounds and critical public discussion is stifled. For the latest reports please see www.englishpen.org/writersinprison

Tickets for the English PEN Christmas Party can be booked by English PEN Members through the website www.englishpen.org/events. A small number of press tickets will be available for non PEN members. If you would like to discuss a press ticket please contact Sarah Hesketh on sarah@englishpen.org

For information regarding the Golden PEN Award please contact:
Jonathan Heawood, Director

0207 324 2535 / jonathan@englishpen.org

Writers in Translation programme

2009-11-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

How to apply to the programme

Writers in Translation is English PEN's newest programme. We award grants to support new books being published for the first time in English translation, and which have a clear link to the PEN charter.

There are two rounds of submissions per year. The deadline for the next call for submissions has now been set for Monday 1st March 2010. Books scheduled for publication in the second half of 2010 are eligible to apply in this round. Please fill in the application form (link below), and email it to us. Please post the supporting documents which cannot be emailed.

WiT Application Form

Conditions: Please read carefully

* Only titles which adhere to the PEN spirit of defending freedom of expression or promoting inter-cultural understanding will be considered. NB: Applicants will be asked to justify how the title adheres to PEN's aims, as set out in the PEN charter
* Titles should be published preferably within 18 months from receipt of application
* Samples sent to the programme MUST NOT exceed 6,000 words
* Responsibility for commissioning a sample translation for consideration by the programme lies with the publisher
* The translator of the sample MUST be the translator the publisher is going to use for the final published book
* The sample sent for consideration MUST be an edited version, even it is a work-in-progress
* The acknowledgement 'Recommended by English PEN' must be printed on the jacket of the work
* The acknowledgement 'This book has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN Writers in Translation programme supported by Bloomberg' must be printed on the introductory pages of every print run
* A short statement about the aims of English PEN must also be published on the prelims pages
* The name of the translator must be printed either on the front or back cover of the book
* Any press coverage/reviews of the book MUST mention the fact that the book is supported by English PEN's Writers in Translation programme
* 12 complimentary copies of the book must be sent to English PEN
* English PEN reserves the right to ask for additional information about the project.
* Please read carefully the submission criteria outlined in the application form.

Contact

For all queries, please contact philip@englishpen.org

Writers in Translation

Each year, Writers in Translation support between 6 and 8 books that are translated from a wide variety of foreign languages. Our aim is to celebrate books of outstanding literary value, dedication to free speech and intercultural understanding.

In November 2009, the Writers in Translation Committee chose to support 4 books which will be published in the first half of 2010:

Samuel Shimon (editor), Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World

A collection of the best new writing from the Arab world by 39 writers under 40, aiming, in conjunction with the Hay and Free the Word Festivals, to bring a new generation of writers to public attention

Atiq Rahimi, The Patience Stone

A young woman sits at her husband's bedside, twisting her worry beads, reciting prayers. Shot in the neck by a fellow soldier, he is in a coma. Alone and desperate for any sign of life from him, as her mind appears to unravel she also becomes intensely clear-sighted. Empowered by her husband's silence she steps out of the shadows of repression and begins an astonishing confessional.

Eli Amir, The Dove Flyer

A lyrical farewell to the city - and Jewish culture - that Eli Amir grew up in and loved, and which is now gone forever. A marvellous story, noble, dreamy and beautifully told, that brings alive the feel, the taste, the fears and the pleasures of the Jewish community of Baghdad.

Ngu~gi~ wa Thiong'o, Dreams in a Time of War

Through telling the story of his grandparents and parents and of his brothers' involvement on different sides of the violent Mau Mau uprising, Ngu~gi~ wa Thiong'o documents a momentous period in Kenyan history, etching a bygone era, capturing the landscape, the people and their culture, and the social and political vicissitudes of life under colonialism and war.

Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2009

2009-11-22T07:58:00.001-08:00

Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2009
Press release
15 November 2009

Contact:

Sara Whyatt, Programme Director, Writers in Prison Committee, London, UK
Tel: +44 20 7405 0338 sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk

Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair, Writers in Prison Committee, Toronto, Canada
m.b.f@sympatico.ca

"Since November 2008, thirty-five print and online journalists have been murdered," said Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee. "All over the world, writers and journalists and bloggers are suffering for practicing their right to speak out on issues that matter."

On 15 November 2009, International PEN's membership of writers world wide will commemorate their colleagues world wide who are imprisoned, attacked and even killed. In any given year PEN is monitoring around 1,000 cases of attacks on writers, journalists and publishers. Of these around 200 are in prison, some serving sentences of over 20 years. Others are suffering unfair trials, harassment and threats.

Each year PEN focuses on five of these writers, one from each world region. This year they are:
CAMEROON: Lapiro De Mbanga - Singer-songwriter

Read more...
CHINA: Liu Xiaobo - Dissident writer

Read more...
IRAN: Maziar Bahari - Journalist, editor, playwright and film-maker

Read more...
MEXICO - Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez Ávila, anthropologist, author and activist (d. 26 July 2008)

Read more...
RUSSIA: Natalia Estemirova, journalist and human rights defender (d. 15 July 2009)

Read more...

PEN is also focussing on 33 other print journalists killed since November 2008. Seven of the killings were in Russia, six in Mexico, and four each in India and Pakistan.

During the days surrounding 15 November, PEN members around the world will send protests to governments, issue petitions, write articles, and stage events. Panel debates, readings, musical performances and other PEN Centre activities will be staged in Berlin, Lugano, Zurich, Geneva, Barcelona, Agramunt (Catalunya), Potenza (Italy), Auckland, Glasgow, Oslo, Stockholm, London, Nairobi, Los Angeles, Accra, Sydney and elsewhere.

PEN members' support and campaigns for their colleagues in trouble has enormous impact, not only in the numbers released - over 30% of detainees are freed each year - but also for ensuring that issue of freedom of expression is high on the public agenda. The impact of this global support and solidarity between writers provides is immeasurable.

Next year, 2010, marks the 50th anniversary of the Writers in Prison Committee. We will be inviting all to join us in celebrating this remarkable organisation throughout the coming year.

About International PEN and its Writers in Prison Committee

Originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has 145 Centres in 104 countries across the globe. It recognises that literature is essential to understanding and engaging with other worlds; if you can't hear the voice of another culture how can you understand it?

Our primary goal is to engage with, and empower, societies and communities across cultures and languages, through reading and writing. We believe that writers can play a crucial role in changing and developing civil society. We do this through the promotion of literature, international campaigning on issues such as translation and freedom of expression and improving access to literature at international, regional and national levels.

Our membership is open to all published writers who subscribe to the PEN Charter regardless of nationality, language, race, colour or religion. International PEN is a non-political organisation and has special consultative status at UNESCO and the United Nations.

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN was set up in 1960 as a result of mounting concern about attempts to silence critical voices around the world and an office of volunteers was set up at the PEN head office in London to gather information and to alert the PEN membership to take action. The WiPC is now staffed by a team of experts who monitor around 1,000 attacks on writers, journalists, editors, poets, publishers and others in any given year. These include long prison terms, harassment, threats, and even murder.

PEN Beyond Margins Awards

2009-11-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

PEN Newsletter
This event is free and open to the public.

Crossing Over:
The 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Celebration

PEN American Center invites you to attend an evening of readings and conversation honoring the winners of the 2009 PEN Beyond Margins Awards:

Uwem Akpan for Say You’re One of Them
Juan Felipe Herrera for Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems
Lily Hoang for Changing

Recent Oprah Book Club pick Uwem Akpan, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Lily Hoang will read from their work, and W.W. Norton editor Brendan Curry will join them for a panel discussion moderated by Jane Ciabattari about the pathway to critical and commercial success and how the winning titles borrow from multiple genres to create works that are vital and engaging.

>> More information

PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
Tel. (212) 334-1660
Fax. (212) 334-2181
www.pen.org

A poem by a teenage cancer patient

2009-11-16T01:49:00.000-08:00

A poem by a teenage cancer patient with a message

In my gmail inbox, I got a mail, the content is very sensitive. I think it is a real fact that a girl is dying of cancer. My request is please, if possible we writers should check the condition and do something for her. the email as follows:
-----------------------------------------------------

Dance

(This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer.
She wants to see how many people get her poem..
It is quite the poem Please pass it on.
This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York
Hospital ..
It was sent by

a medical doctor -
Make sure to read what is in the closing statement
AFTER THE POEM.)

SLOW DANCE
Have you ever
watched
kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to
the
rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly' s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance

so fast.
Time is short.
The music
won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie
in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through
your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it
tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his
sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say,'Hi'

You'd
better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run
so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting
there.

When you worry and hurry
through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

------------
--------

FORWARDED
E-MAILS ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL
COUNT.

Dear All:
PLEASE pass this mail on to everyone you know -
even to those you don't
know! It is the request of a special girl who will soon
leave this world
due to cancer.
This young girl has 6 months left to live,
and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to
live their life to the fullest, since she never will.
She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a
family of her own.

By you sending this to as many people as possible, you can give her and her family a
little hope, because with every name that this is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people! So I know that we can at least send it to 5 or 6. It's not even your money, just
your time!
PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST.

Dr.
Dennis Shields, Professor
Department of Developmental and
Molecular Biology
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx , New York
10461

Ajit Bhattacharyya
H2 / `176 Sarsuna Satellite Township
Sakuntala Park
Kolkata 700 061
INDIA

--
Regards,

arun bhattacharya

KINDLY USE LARGE FONT (AT LEAST 18) OTHERWISE I CAN'T READ EMAILS!
Nabaneeta Dev Sen "Bhalo-Basa" 72, Hindustan Park Kolkata – 700029

PLEASE HAVE PATIENCE, and READ THE NOTE AFTER THE POEM ENDS.

IT IS SENT BY US DOCTORS ON BEHALF OF A CHILD WITH CANCER WHO HAS WRITTEN IT

KINDLY FWD IT TO AS MANY FRIENDS AS YOU CAN, IT WILL MEAN 3 CENTS PER NAME FROM THE US CANCER SOCIETY FOT HER TREATMENT

THANK YOU

The poem has meant a lot to me

NABANEETA

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot emails been forwarded, I dont like to put all addresses here, the message only taken

English PEN : Vacancies

2009-11-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Vacancies

Acting Writers in Translation Programme Manager

£23-25,000, pro rata; 3 days per week; temporary contract until 31 October 2010; central London

English PEN welcomes applicants regardless of race or colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin, religion or religious belief, sex or marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age.

English PEN is the founding centre of an international writers' association, working to promote literature and freedom of speech. Its Writers in Translation programme pursues this vision with the support of Bloomberg and Arts Council England. We award grants to publishers of high-quality fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama in English translation. The titles are selected by a committee of experts, meeting twice a year to consider submissions from leading publishers. In the five years since the programme began awarding grants, we have supported some of the world's greatest writers, facilitating authors' visits to the UK, building new audiences for international literature, and establishing translated literature in the literary mainstream. We have also launched the PEN Atlas of World Literature, which complements this work by creating an online community to promote world literature.

Due to a period of extended leave, we have an opportunity for a literature professional to join English PEN's team on a temporary basis until 31 October 2010, delivering the work of the Writers in Translation programme, overseeing the development of the PEN Atlas, and creating activities to mark the 5th anniversary of Writers in Translation. The Acting Programme Manager will work with publishers to ensure that their titles reach the widest possible audience, through creative promotional campaigns. This is a three day per week role, joining English PEN's staff of eight, based at the new Free Word Centre in London's Clerkenwell. Although it is a temporary post, this is an opportunity for the right person to make an impact at a period of activity and expansion for the Writers in Translation programme.

Job summary

• To oversee the development and delivery of the Writers in Translation programme of English PEN, including responsibility for fundraising and related projects such as the PEN Atlas; the 5th anniversary celebrations; and English PEN's contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
• To communicate the programme's work to publishers, translators, funders, English PEN members and the media, where appropriate.
• To be a key member of the English PEN staff team, collaborating on projects and events management.

Responsibilities

• Obtaining high level submissions from English publishers
• Working with an editorial committee that assesses and evaluates the submissions to the programme
• Enabling the committee to make its decisions
• Maintaining a strong relationship with our funders at Bloomberg and Arts Council England
• Assisting publishers in designing and carrying out the promotion and marketing of the titles
• Disseminating sample translations and readers' reports via a regular bulletin to publishers
• Minuting the committee meetings and sending out minutes to the steering committee
• Writing articles about the programme's activities where necessary, and keeping current the WiT section of the English PEN web site (www.englishpen.org).
• Overseeing the development of the PEN Atlas of World Literature
• Managing the Writers in Translation programme fifth anniversary activities
• Recruiting and managing the work of interns for the Writers in Translation programme
• Representing English PEN and the Writers in Translation programme at relevant conferences and seminars
• Carrying out internet research on titles, authors, and translation policy in the British publishing industry
• Developing Writers in Translation activities and policy in consultation with the Director and the Chair of the steering committee
• Ensuring that the Director and Board are well informed as to the work of the Writers in Translation programme
• Producing regular reports for the Newsletter and Board
• Any other duties as may from time to time be deemed necessary by the Director and Board of English PEN

Experience and skills

The successful candidate may have experience in publishing, literature development or other arts promotion work in the voluntary or public sector. They will be:

• Passionate about international literature;
• Passionate about building audiences for international literature;
• Interested in other cultures;
• Eager to promote new writing from unheard voices;
• Familiar with web 2.0 technology and keen to explore its potential;
• A great communicator, both in writing and verbally;
• Calm and professional under pressure;
• Able to work as part of a team and with a range of partners;
• Flexible and extremely well organised;
• Keenly interested in English PEN's wider work for literature and free speech.

To apply

Please send a cover letter (with ref: Writers in Translation in the subject line) and your CV to Amy Oliver: amy@englishpen.org, by 5pm on Wednesday 25th November 2009. Interviews will be held in central London in early December. Successful applicants should be available to start work in January 2010.

We offer

• A fulfilling job, working on a range of challenging issues with a diverse team based in an exciting new centre for literature, literacy and free speech.
• Flexible working.
• 25 days Annual Leave (pro rata) per annum plus public holidays.

Salary: £23-25,000, pro rata, depending on experience, three days per week, until 31 October 2009

Please note: only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

Voluteers

We are always looking for volunteers to help out with our regular programme of Writers in Public events so do fill out one of our online volunteer forms if you are interested in finding out more.

Source : http://www.englishpen.org/aboutenglishpen/vacancies/

PURPLE RONNIE'S STAND-UP POETRY CLUB

2009-11-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

PURPLE RONNIE'S STAND-UP POETRY CLUB
Full details on the end of this link.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4944489901&ref=ts#/event.php?eid=157106518617&ref=mf

A night of poetry's legends. And Luke Wright.

JOHN HEGLEY - Hailing from Luton, this singer, poet and stand-up is an Edinburgh Festival stalwart who's performed all over the world for over twenty years. He now has nine books, two albums, many a BBC Radio series and one mug to his name. He has appeared on countless TV shows, and been best described as having a "beat poet's style and philosopher's grace." He is without doubt, one of Britain's best-loved entertainers.

ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER - Inspired by the spirit and ethos of punk his themes are topical, his words hard-hitting and his politics is unashamedly radical. He is able to simultaneously make you roar with laughter and seethe with political indignation. His cult career has produced 14 albums, many a John Peel Session and an appearance on Melody Maker's cover.

LUKE WRIGHT - As ever, your host is this young fellow. Described as "the best young performance poet around" by The Observer, Luke is also host and curator of Latitude's Poetry Arena and resident poet on Radio 4's Saturday Live. His Channel Four Valentine's Day special attracted over a million viewers.

TICKETS £8 - call Ticketweb on 08444 77 1000 or available online here: http://bit.ly/Uvr9d

This message I got from face book.
All credits and responsinility pinned on source
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4944489901#/inbox/?folder=[fb]messages&page=1&tid=1240487061836

PURPLE RONNIE'S STAND-UP POETRY CLUB

2009-11-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

I got a message in my facebook inbox, I think this message may do some good for writers.

Thursday, 19 November 2009
Time: 19:30 - 22:30
Location: Monto Water Rats
328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross WC1X 8BZ
London, United Kingdom

Full details on the end of this link.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4944489901&ref=ts#/event.php?eid=157106518617&ref=mf

PURPLE RONNIE'S STAND-UP POETRY CLUB

A night of poetry's legends. And Luke Wright.

JOHN HEGLEY - Hailing from Luton, this singer, poet and stand-up is an Edinburgh Festival stalwart who's performed all over the world for over twenty years. He now has nine books, two albums, many a BBC Radio series and one mug to his name. He has appeared on countless TV shows, and been best described as having a "beat poet's style and philosopher's grace." He is without doubt, one of Britain's best-loved entertainers.

ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER - Inspired by the spirit and ethos of punk his themes are topical, his words hard-hitting and his politics is unashamedly radical. He is able to simultaneously make you roar with laughter and seethe with political indignation. His cult career has produced 14 albums, many a John Peel Session and an appearance on Melody Maker's cover.

LUKE WRIGHT - As ever, your host is this young fellow. Described as "the best young performance poet around" by The Observer, Luke is also host and curator of Latitude's Poetry Arena and resident poet on Radio 4's Saturday Live. His Channel Four Valentine's Day special attracted over a million viewers.

TICKETS £8 - call Ticketweb on 08444 77 1000 or available online here: http://bit.ly/Uvr9d

All credits and responsibility pinned on the source.

American PEN News : Nov. 9, Breakout: Voices from Inside‏

2009-11-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

SAVE THE DATE

THURSDAY, Nov. 12:
A Tribute to Marie Ponsot

MONDAY, Nov. 30:
Conversation: Javier Marías & Paul Auster

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2:
Beyond Margins Award Celebration

PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
Tel. (212) 334-1660
Fax. (212) 334-2181
www.pen.org

If you are interested in volunteering for PEN events, please contact Elizabeth Weinstein at elizabeth@pen.org.

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please click here.

Breakout: Voices from Inside

When: Monday, November 9
Where: WNYC Greene Space, 44 Charlton Street, NYC
What time: 7 p.m.

With Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Patricia Smith, Jamal Joseph, Lemon Andersen, Sean Wilsey, and others

Tickets: Collaborator: $75/Friend: $50

Collaborator ticket covers the expenses of one-on-one mentoring services between a PEN Member and an incarcerated man or woman for one year. This premier ticket includes the best views and a reception following the program.

Friend ticket covers the postage and printing costs to provide eight incarcerated men and women with a free copy of PEN’s Handbook for Writers in Prison. This ticket includes a reception following the program.

PEN Members and friends will read the award-winning work from PEN’s Prison Writing Program. Breakout: Voices from Inside, the Program’s second annual benefit reading and reception, will feature readings by Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Patricia Smith, Jamal Joseph, Lemon Andersen, and others. As an installment of WNYC’s signature series “The NEXT New York Conversation,” this event will be broadcast and live-streamed, allowing incarcerated men and women with radio and/or internet access to listen to the event and join our audience.

For more than 30 years, PEN’s Prison Writing Program has been dedicated to helping make the harsh realities of American imprisonment part of our social justice dialogue. PEN’s Program has also been on the front-lines of prison reform, helping inmates in federal, state, and local penitentiaries cope with life behind bars, gain skills, and have a voice while they are there. Breakout: Voices from Inside will help raise much-needed funds to enable our program to continue its most important mission into the future—helping incarcerated men and women to see themselves in a new way: as writers.

United Kingdom: Government Begins Decriminalisation of Defamation

2009-10-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

18 October 2009

United Kingdom: Government Begins Decriminalisation of Defamation, Concerns Remain for Northern Ireland

ARTICLE 19, English PEN and Index on Censorship welcome the UK government’s drive to decriminalise defamation. However, we are deeply concerned that the proposed amendments do not abolish the offence of ‘blasphemous libel’ in Northern Ireland.

Led by Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw MP and Lord Bach, the newly released amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill will repeal the criminal offences of sedition and seditious libel, defamatory libel, and obscene libel in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

ARTICLE 19, English Pen and Index on Censorship are campaigning for the decriminalisation of defamation and repeal of blasphemy offences in the UK and around the world and strongly welcome the amendments.

Evan Harris MP, an ARTICLE 19 Board Member, who has led the campaign for decriminalisation within the UK legislature, says: “I welcome this repeal which I hope will show the way forward for many other jurisdictions which not only have these unjust and unjustifiable laws, but which actually use them to censor and persecute writers and journalists.”

However the three organisations remain deeply concerned that instead of repealing all criminal offences of libel, the offence of blasphemous libel in Northern Ireland remains.

The historical offence of blasphemous libel is entirely incompatible with democratic ideals. In the past it has been abused to protect religions, religious ideas and religious leaders from legitimate criticism.

“We call on Members of Parliament to introduce further amendments in advance of the 26 October debate on the Bill. They should not deny Northern Ireland full protection for freedom of expression. This ground breaking step will be tainted if such a derogation is permitted.”

Lord Lester, Liberal Democrat Peer and Vice President of English PEN who will table the amendment in the House of Lords, comments: “I welcome the amendments but I hope before the Lords debate, the Government will reconsider their decision to retain the offence of blasphemous libel in Northern Ireland. That would create an arbitrary and divisive outcome threatening free speech and freedom of religion. God no more needs to be protected by criminal law in Northern Ireland than in Great Britain.”

Criminal defamation has not been used in the UK for a number of years, but its “chilling effect” remains. Moreover, states around the world justify their persistent use of criminal defamation according to the example set by the UK.

In many countries, criminal defamation laws are abused by the powerful to limit criticism and to stifle public debate. The threat of harsh criminal sanctions, especially imprisonment, exerts a profound chilling effect on freedom of expression.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information please contact: Oliver Spencer, ARTICLE 19 oliver@article19.org, +44 (0) 7837 833 893, Robert Sharp, English PEN, robert@englishpen.org, +44 (0) 020 7713 0023, Jo Glanville, Index on Censorship, jo@indexoncensorship.org, +44 (0) 20 7278 2313.
• To see more details of defamation and its effects around the world, please see ARTICLE 19’s Global Maps at: www.article19.org/advocacy/defamationmap/map/?dataSet=defamation_legislation
• Index on Censorship is an organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of speech through its publications, international projects, events, campaigns and website

PEN American Center ; UPCOMING EVENTS. Oct. 09

2009-10-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 26:
PEN America 11 Launch Party

Where: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., NYC
What time: 6:30–8:30 p.m.

With Paul Auster, Roxana Robinson, and others

Free and open to the public

>> See event details

Thursday, October 29:
Bearing Witness in Chechnya: The Legacy of Natalia Estemirova

Where: Proshansky Auditorium, CUNY Graduate School, 365 Fifth Ave., NYC
What time: 7 p.m.

With Salman Rushdie, Michael Arena, Keith Gessen, Tanya Lokshina, Elena Milashina, and Zarema Mukusheva

Free and open to the public

>> See event details

Monday, November 9:
Breakout: Voices from Inside

Where: WNYC Greene Space, 44 Charlton St., NYC
What time: 7 p.m.

With Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Patricia Smith, and others

Tickets: Collaborator: $75/Friend: $50

>> See event details

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Monday, October 26:
PEN America 11: Make Believe Launch Party
Celebrate "make believe"—and writers who make us believe in the worlds of their own creation—with PEN America, PEN's award-winning literary journal. Join recent contributors—including Cynthia Cruz, Said Sayrafiezadeh, and Lynne Tillman—to toast our newest issue, Make Believe; Paul Auster and Roxana Robinson will read. >> More

Thursday, October 29:
Bearing Witness in Chechnya: The Legacy of Natalia Estemirova
Salman Rushdie, Keith Gessen, and others will gather for a night of readings and conversations to honor the legacy of Natalia Estemirova—the award-winning human rights activist and journalist murdered on July 15, 2009—while calling attention to issues of freedom of expression in Russia. >> More

Monday, November 9:
Breakout: Voices from Inside
PEN’s Prison Writing Program will host its second annual benefit reading and reception, featuring readings by Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, and others. This event will be broadcast and live-streamed, allowing incarcerated men and women with radio and/or internet access to listen to the event. >> More

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Sneak Preview: PEN America 11: Make Believe
Alesksandar Hemon, Cynthia Ozick, Lynne Tillman, and others imagine books they wish they (or someone else) had written; Sigrid Nunez invents an orphanage full of “rapture children”; and Rivka Galchen pretends to be Lydia Davis and Peter Altenberg. Plus new fiction from Brian Evenson; poetry by Christian Hawkey, Marie Ponsot, and Liu Xiaobo—and much more.

>> Sneak Preview
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2009 Brooklyn Book Festival Podcasts
At this year's Brooklyn Book Festival, PEN produced a series of podcast conversations featuring writers interviewing writers, including Sara Khalili, Libba Bray, and Vadim Yarmolinets.

>> Listen to the conversations

Vietnam: Dissident writers sentenced

2009-10-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Vietnam: Dissident writers sentenced

Published: October 20, 2009

English PEN is outraged by the sentences handed down to nine dissident writers in recent days for 'spreading propaganda' against the government. The sentences range from two to six years. All were first detained in September 2008, and include the well known novelist and journalist Nguyen Xuan Ngia, leader of the banned pro-democracy group Bloc 8406, and editor of the underground democracy journal To Quoc (Fatherland).

Writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, poet Nguyen Van Tinh, human rights defender Nguyen Kim Nhan, poet Nguyen Van Tuc, student and internet writer Ngo Quynh, and writer Nguyen Manh Son were charged with conducting anti-government propaganda under article 88 of Vietnam's penal code for their pro-democracy writings and activities, in particular their membership of the banned pro-democracy group Bloc 8406. They were convicted to sentences ranging from two to six years following a two-day trial in Hanoi that concluded on 9 October. In 2006, Bloc 8406, a coalition of political parties and organisations campaigning for political reform, created the "Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy in Vietnam". The group's name refers to the date that the manifesto was created. Originally signed by 118 dissidents, the number of signatories grew into the thousands. Most notable is Nguyen Van Ly, a priest and writer arrested in February 2007 and who was sentenced to eight years for his involvement in Bloc 8406.

The six writers sentenced on 9 October 2009 are amongst dozens of activists to have been arrested since September 2008 as part of an ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent. The group's leader, writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, received the heaviest sentence. The indictment, dated 3 July 2009, cited fifty-seven pieces written by Nguyen Xuan Nghia from 2007 until his arrest in 2008, including poetry, literature, short stories and articles, which allegedly sought to "insult the Communist Party of Vietnam, distort the situation of the country, slander and disgrace the country's leaders, demand a pluralistic and multiparty system ... and incite and attract other people into the opposition movement."

For further information go to:

Human Rights Watch article

IFEX alerts and reports on freedom of expression in Vietnam
For the BBC's country profile

Please send appeals:

- Expressing alarm at the ongoing crackdown on dissident in Vietnam, in which at least nine writers have been handed down lengthy prison sentences for their peaceful dissident writings and activities;
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a signatory.

Appeals to be sent to:

President, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
His Excellency Nguyên Minh Triêt
C/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Please note that there are no fax numbers available for the Vietnamese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for Vietnam in your country to forward your appeals. It would also be advantageous to ask your country's diplomatic representatives in Vietnam to intervene in the case.

Vietnamese Embassy, London, United Kingdom

His Excellency Tran Quang Hoan

Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

12 - 14 Victoria Road

W8 5RD

United Kingdom

British Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam

His Excellency Mr Mark Kent

Central Building
4th floor
31 Hai Ba Trung
Hanoi

Vietnam

behanoi@hn.vnn.vn

Fax: ( 84) (4)3936 0561 (for Embassy in general)

MPs and NGOs call for ban on super-injunctions

2009-10-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

MPs and NGOs call for ban on super-injunctions

Index on Censorship and English PEN today welcomed MPs' robust response in this afternoon's adjournment debate to Carter-Ruck's attempts to gag Parliamentary reporting, and called on them to strengthen the public's right to information by banning the use of so-called 'super-injunctions' except in extreme circumstances.

Jo Glanville, Editor of Index on Censorship, said: 'The widespread use of super-injunctions is a serious threat to media freedom in this country - and to the fabric of open democracy. It is essential that this debate marks the beginning of reform, so that individuals and companies are no longer free to gag the press and prevent information that's clearly in the public interest from coming under scrutiny.'

Jonathan Heawood, Director of English PEN, said: 'The rights of Parliament are the rights of citizens. Unless Parliament is free to debate everything that MPs believe to be important, it can't do its job properly. And unless the public is free to know what Parliament is talking about, we have closed government. Super-injunctions compromise democracy and should be banned, except in extreme circumstances.'

MPs from the three main parties voiced their concerns about super-injunctions and the impact of English libel law on free speech in an adjournment debate called by Evan Harris MP in the wake of the Trafigura affair, in which the law firm Carter-Ruck argued that a 'super-injunction' prevented the media from reporting on a Parliamentary question asked by Paul Farrelly MP. They wrote to the Speaker of the House on 14 October suggesting that the issue might also be out of bounds for Parliament. Carter-Ruck withdrew the injunction in the wake of a global internet campaign.

During the debate, Denis MacShane MP called for the partners of Carter-Ruck to be called to the Bar of the House of Commons to account for their attempts to 'subvert Parliamentary democracy.'

MPs commended the work of Evan Harris, English PEN and Index on Censorship in raising awareness of the failings of English libel law.

Paul Farrelly MP asked for a return from the 'rule of lawyers to the rule of law'.

Peter Bottomley MP asked for all injunctions to be logged openly in order to allow proper parliamentary oversight of the courts.

John Whittingdale MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said how MPs on the Committee had received threatening letters from solicitors. These had been described by the Speaker's Counsel as 'improperly interfering with the work of Parliament'.

David Heath MP asked the government to confirm that the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840, which grants the media the right to report on everything in Parliament, is still in force.

Responding to the debate, Bridget Prentice, Minister for Justice, said: 'It is not possible to fetter Parliament'. She confirmed that the advice given by Carter-Ruck in their letter of 14 October to the Speaker was incorrect. She said: 'we are very concerned that super-injunctions are being used more frequently, especially in libel.' And she confirmed that the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840 was still in force.

Prentice promised further guidelines on the use of super-injunctions and agreed that defamation law 'needs to be tightened up'.

She stated that the government would abolish the antiquated laws of criminal libel, obscene libel and seditious libel in an amendment to the Coroners & Justice Bill in response to pressure by Index on Censorship, Article 19 and English PEN.

Contact

Jonathan Heawood: 07889 071711; jonathan@englishpen.org

Jo Glanville: 07713 020971; jo@indexoncensorship.org

Note to Editors

Index on Censorship and English PEN are publishing their detailed recommendations for libel reform on 10 November. For press tickets, please contact Michael Harris: michael.harris@pbm.org.uk

To view the English PEN/Index on Censorship Briefing paper: Free speech, libel law and super-injunctions, please click here.

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