# PEN International > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/PEN_International > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/PEN_International.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN_International > Source revision: 1349403407 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Worldwide association of writers}} {{about|the writers' association|the hearing impairment group|PEN-International}} {{Redirect|PEN Center|the shopping mall|Pen Centre}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox organization |name = PEN International |image = Pen international.svg |formation = {{Start date and age|df=y|1921}} |extinction = |type = [NGO](/source/non-governmental_organization) |status = |purpose = Promote literature and defend freedom of expression worldwide. |headquarters = London |coordinates = |region_served = International |membership = |language = |leader_title = President |leader_name = [Burhan Sönmez](/source/Burhan_S%C3%B6nmez) |main_organ = |parent_organization = |affiliations = |num_staff = |num_volunteers = |budget = |website = {{URL|www.pen-international.org}} |remarks = }} [[File:Catherine Amy Dawson Scott.jpg|thumb|upright|[Catherine Amy Dawson Scott](/source/Catherine_Amy_Dawson_Scott), co-founder of PEN International]] '''PEN International''' (known as '''International PEN''' until 2010){{cite web |url=http://www.pen-international.org/our-history/ |title=Our History |publisher=PEN International |date=10 November 1995 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016025403/http://www.pen-international.org/our-history/ |url-status=dead }} is a worldwide [association](/source/professional_association) of writers, founded in London in 1921{{cite news|author=Robert Halsband |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/01/10/archives/leroi-jones-sentence.html |title=LeRoi Jones Sentence – Free Preview|newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=10 January 1968 |access-date=15 November 2011}} to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous [International PEN centres](/source/International_PEN_centres) in more than 100 countries. Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for [freedom of expression](/source/freedom_of_expression); and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned, and sometimes killed for their views. ==History== The first PEN Club was founded at the Florence Restaurant in London on October 5, 1921,[https://books.google.com/books?id=2p-Lq346p8EC&q=dawson "The First International Club of Writers"], by C. A. Dawson Scott, in ''The Literary Digest International Book Review'' (November, 1923) p. 47 by [Catherine Amy Dawson Scott](/source/Catherine_Amy_Dawson_Scott), with [John Galsworthy](/source/John_Galsworthy) as its first president. Its first members included [Joseph Conrad](/source/Joseph_Conrad), [Elizabeth Craig](/source/Elizabeth_Craig_(chef)), [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw), and [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells). PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists, Novelists", but now stands for "Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists" and includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.{{Cite web|title = Our History PEN International|url = http://www.pen-international.org/our-history/|website = pen-international.org|access-date = 9 February 2016|archive-date = 16 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151016025403/http://www.pen-international.org/our-history/|url-status = dead}} The club established these aims: #To promote intellectual co-operation and understanding among writers; #To create a world community of writers that would emphasize the central role of literature in the development of world culture; and, #To defend literature against the many threats to its survival that the modern world poses. The president of PEN International is [Burhan Sönmez](/source/Burhan_S%C3%B6nmez). Past presidents since Galsworthy have included [E. M. Forster](/source/E._M._Forster), [Alberto Moravia](/source/Alberto_Moravia), [Heinrich Böll](/source/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll), [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller), [Mario Vargas Llosa](/source/Mario_Vargas_Llosa), [Homero Aridjis](/source/Homero_Aridjis), [Jiří Gruša](/source/Ji%C5%99%C3%AD_Gru%C5%A1a), [John Ralston Saul](/source/John_Ralston_Saul) and [Jennifer Clement](/source/Jennifer_Clement). ==Structure and status== PEN International has its headquarters in London and is composed of autonomous PEN Centres in more than 100 countries globally, each of which is open to writers, journalists, translators, historians, and others actively engaged in any branch of literature. It is a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with [UNESCO](/source/United_Nations_Educational%2C_Scientific_and_Cultural_Organization){{Cite web |date=2002 |title=Relations with non-governmental organizations, foundations and similar institutions |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000127034 |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org}} and Special Consultative Status with the [Economic and Social Council](/source/United_Nations_Economic_and_Social_Council) of the [United Nations](/source/United_Nations).{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/press/en/2002/NGO457.doc.htm |title=NGO Committee Recommends Upgrading of Consultative Status for Four Organizations |publisher=United Nations|date=24 January 2002|access-date=30 September 2017}} ==Charter== PEN summarises its Charter, based on resolutions passed at its International Congresses:{{cite web |url=https://pen-international.org/who-we-are/the-pen-charter |title=The PEN Charter |publisher=PEN International |access-date=31 May 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208155803/https://www.pen-international.org/who-we-are/the-pen-charter |url-status=dead }} {{blockquote|PEN affirms that: *Literature knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals. *In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion. *Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect between nations and people; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel all hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world. *PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible. PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organised political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortion of facts for political and personal ends.}} ==Writers in Prison Committee== {{See also|Transnational repression}} PEN International Writers in Prison Committee{{cite web |url=http://www.pen-international.org/who-we-are/writers-in-prison/ |title=PEN International – Writers in Prison Committee |publisher=Pen-international.org |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209001637/http://pen-international.org/who-we-are/writers-in-prison/ |archive-date=9 February 2014 |url-status=dead }} works on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide. Established in 1960{{Cite web|url=https://www.fva.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618223717/http://www.fva.org/1097/story1.htm|url-status=dead|title=Fife Voluntary Action|first=Fife Voluntary|last=Action|archivedate=18 June 2007|website=www.fva.org|access-date=18 October 2021}} in response to increasing attempts to silence voices of [dissent](/source/dissent) by imprisoning writers, the Writers in Prison Committee monitors the cases of as many as 900 writers annually who have been [imprisoned](/source/imprisoned), [tortured](/source/tortured), threatened, attacked, made to disappear, and killed for the peaceful practice of their profession. It publishes a bi-annual Case List{{cite web |url=http://www.pen-international.org/campaigns/how-to-campaign/caselist/ |title=PEN International – Case List |publisher=Pen-international.org |access-date=10 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625204407/http://www.pen-international.org/campaigns/how-to-campaign/caselist/ |archive-date=25 June 2013 }} documenting free expression violations against writers around the world. The committee also coordinates the PEN International membership's campaigns that aim towards an end to these attacks and to the suppression of [freedom of expression](/source/freedom_of_expression) worldwide.{{cite web |url=http://www.pen-international.org/campaigns/current-campaigns/ |title=PEN International – Campaigns |publisher=Pen-international.org |date=10 December 2012 |access-date=10 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731222545/http://www.pen-international.org/campaigns/current-campaigns/ |archive-date=31 July 2013 }} PEN International Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the [International Freedom of Expression Exchange](/source/International_Freedom_of_Expression_Exchange) (IFEX), a global network of 90 [non-governmental organisations](/source/non-governmental_organisations) that monitors censorship worldwide and defends journalists, writers, internet users, and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.{{cite web|url=http://www.ifex.org/ifex_members/ |title=Our Network |publisher=IFEX |access-date=10 July 2013}} It is also a member of IFEX's [Tunisia Monitoring Group](/source/Tunisia_Monitoring_Group) (TMG), a coalition of twenty-one free expression organisations that began lobbying the Tunisian government to improve its human rights record in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.ifex.org/tunisia/tmg/ |title=Tunisia |date=31 May 2010 |publisher=IFEX |access-date=10 July 2013}} Since the [Arab Spring](/source/Arab_Spring) events that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government, TMG has worked to ensure constitutional guarantees of free expression and human rights within the country. On 15 January 2016, PEN International joined human rights organisations {{ill|Freemuse|de}} and the [International Campaign for Human Rights](/source/Center_for_Human_Rights_in_Iran) in Iran, along with seven other organisations, to protest against the 2013 imprisonment and 2015 sentencing of musicians [Mehdi Rajabian](/source/Mehdi_Rajabian) and [Yousef Emadi](/source/Yousef_Emadi), and filmmaker [Hossein Rajabian](/source/Hossein_Rajabian), and called on the head of the judiciary and other Iranian authorities to drop the charges against them.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pen-international.org/01/2016/call-on-iranian-authorities-to-drop-charges-on-two-musicians-and-a-filmmaker/|title=Iran: Drop Charges Against Filmmaker and Musicians PEN International|website=pen-international.org|access-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425132708/http://www.pen-international.org/01/2016/call-on-iranian-authorities-to-drop-charges-on-two-musicians-and-a-filmmaker/|archive-date=25 April 2016|url-status=dead}} [Ma Thida](/source/Ma_Thida) is the Chair of this committee.{{Cite web|url=https://literaturfestival.com/en/authors/ma-thida/|title=Ma Thida|website=[BILF](/source/Berlin_International_Literature_Festival)|date=2022}} ==PEN affiliated awards== {{main|List of PEN literary awards}} The various PEN affiliations offer many literary awards across a broad spectrum. ==Memorials== [[File:International PEN memorial Canberra.JPG|thumb|Memorial grove, [Canberra](/source/Canberra), Australian Capital Territory]] [[File:Antony Gormley Witness.JPG|thumb|right|[Antony Gormley](/source/Antony_Gormley)'s ''Witness'', on the piazza of the [British Library](/source/British_Library), London]] A grove of trees beside [Lake Burley Griffin](/source/Lake_Burley_Griffin) forms the PEN International memorial in [Canberra](/source/Canberra), Australian Capital Territory. The dedication reads: "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." The memorial was officially opened on 17 November 1997. A [cast-iron](/source/cast-iron) sculpture entitled ''Witness'', commissioned by [English PEN](/source/English_PEN) to mark their 90th anniversary and created by [Antony Gormley](/source/Antony_Gormley), stands outside the [British Library](/source/British_Library) in London. It depicts an empty chair and is inspired by the symbol used for 30 years by English PEN to represent imprisoned writers around the world. It was unveiled on 13 December 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2011/december/the-british-library-unveils-new-antony-gormley-sculpture-to-commemorate-english-pens-90th-anniversar |title=The British Library unveils new Antony Gormley sculpture to commemorate English PEN's 90th anniversary |publisher=Pressandpolicy.bl.uk |date=13 December 2011 |access-date=16 April 2015}} ==Notable members== {{div col|colwidth=20em}} *[Homero Aridjis](/source/Homero_Aridjis), President [Emeritus](/source/%3Awikt%3AEmeritus). *[Jerzy Kosinski](/source/Jerzy_Kosinski) *[Carmen Aristegui](/source/Carmen_Aristegui) *[Margaret Atwood](/source/Margaret_Atwood){{cite web |url=http://www.usc.uwo.ca/atwood/ |title=Margaret Atwood at Western |publisher=Usc.uwo.ca |date=19 January 2011 |access-date=15 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927054707/http://www.usc.uwo.ca/atwood/ |archive-date=27 September 2011 }} *[Thomas G. Bergin](/source/Thomas_G._Bergin) *[Heinrich Böll](/source/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll) *[Jorge Luis Borges](/source/Jorge_Luis_Borges) *[Karel Čapek](/source/Karel_%C4%8Capek) *[J. M. Coetzee](/source/J._M._Coetzee) *[Joseph Conrad](/source/Joseph_Conrad) *[Elizabeth Craig](/source/Elizabeth_Craig_(chef)) *[Sidney Dark](/source/Sidney_Dark) *[Maria Dąbrowska](/source/Maria_D%C4%85browska) *[Ashraf Fayadh](/source/Ashraf_Fayadh) *[Hermann Friedmann](/source/Hermann_Friedmann) *[Nadine Gordimer](/source/Nadine_Gordimer) *[Gloria Guardia](/source/Gloria_Guardia) *[Zofia Kossak-Szczucka](/source/Zofia_Kossak-Szczucka) *[Theodor Kramer](/source/Theodor_Kramer) *[Robie Macauley](/source/Robie_Macauley) *[Thomas Mann](/source/Thomas_Mann) *[Predrag Matvejević](/source/Predrag_Matvejevi%C4%87) *[Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller) *[Charles Langbridge Morgan](/source/Charles_Langbridge_Morgan) *[Toni Morrison](/source/Toni_Morrison) *[Zofia Nałkowska](/source/Zofia_Na%C5%82kowska) *[Octavio Paz](/source/Octavio_Paz) *[Harold Pinter](/source/Harold_Pinter) *[J. K. Rowling](/source/J._K._Rowling){{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7446337.stm |title=JK Rowling writes prequel for PEN |publisher=BBC News |date=11 June 2008 |access-date=10 July 2013}} *[Michael Scammell](/source/Michael_Scammell) *[George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw) *[Mieczysław Smolarski](/source/Mieczys%C5%82aw_Smolarski) *[William Styron](/source/William_Styron) *[Carl Tighe](/source/Carl_Tighe) *[Luisa Valenzuela](/source/Luisa_Valenzuela) {{div col end}} ==Presidents== {| class="wikitable" margin:auto; margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%;" |- !colspan="2"|PEN International presidents[https://pen-international.org/who-we-are/history/pen-presidents PEN Presidents and Vice Presidents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426035118/https://pen-international.org/who-we-are/history/pen-presidents |date=26 April 2019 }}, PEN International. |- | [John Galsworthy](/source/John_Galsworthy)|| 1921–1932 |- | [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells)|| 1932–1935 |- | [Jules Romains](/source/Jules_Romains)|| 1936–1939 |- | Wartime Presidential Committee: * [Hu Shih](/source/Hu_Shih) (1941–47) * [Denis Saurat](/source/Denis_Saurat) (1941–47) * [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells) (1941–46) * Hermon Ould (1941–47) * [Thornton Wilder](/source/Thornton_Wilder) (1941–47) * [E. M. Forster](/source/E._M._Forster) (1946–47) * [François Mauriac](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mauriac) (1946–47) * [Ignazio Silone](/source/Ignazio_Silone) (1946–47) || 1941–1947 |- | [Maurice Maeterlinck](/source/Maurice_Maeterlinck)|| 1947–1949 |- | [Benedetto Croce](/source/Benedetto_Croce)|| 1949–1953 |- | [Charles Langbridge Morgan](/source/Charles_Langbridge_Morgan)|| 1954–1956 |- | [Andre Chamson](/source/Andre_Chamson)|| 1957–1959 |- | [Alberto Moravia](/source/Alberto_Moravia)|| 1960–1962 |- | [Victor E. van Vriesland](/source/Victor_E._van_Vriesland)|| 1963–1965 |- | [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller)|| 1966–1969 |- | [Pierre Emmanuel](/source/Pierre_Emmanuel)|| 1970–1971 |- | [Heinrich Böll](/source/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll)|| 1972–1973 |- | [V. S. Pritchett](/source/V._S._Pritchett)|| 1974–1976 |- | [Mario Vargas Llosa](/source/Mario_Vargas_Llosa)|| 1977–1979 |- | [Per Wästberg](/source/Per_W%C3%A4stberg)|| 1979–1986 |- | [Francis King](/source/Francis_King)|| 1986–1989 |- | [René Tavernier](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Tavernier_(poet))|| May–November 1989 |- | [Per Wästberg](/source/Per_W%C3%A4stberg) (Interim)|| November 1989 – May 1990 |- | [György Konrád](/source/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Konr%C3%A1d)|| 1990–1993 |- | [Ronald Harwood](/source/Ronald_Harwood)|| 1993–1997 |- | [Homero Aridjis](/source/Homero_Aridjis)|| 1997–2003 |- | [Jiri Grusa](/source/Jiri_Grusa)|| 2003–2009 |- | [John Ralston Saul](/source/John_Ralston_Saul)|| 2009–2015 |- | [Jennifer Clement](/source/Jennifer_Clement)|| 2015–2021 |- | [Burhan Sönmez](/source/Burhan_S%C3%B6nmez)|| 2021– |} ==See also== {{Portal|Literature}} * [Day of the Imprisoned Writer](/source/Day_of_the_Imprisoned_Writer) * [International Freedom of Expression Exchange](/source/International_Freedom_of_Expression_Exchange) * [International PEN centers](/source/International_PEN_centers) – 145+ PEN centers around the world. ** [English PEN](/source/English_PEN) – The founding centre of PEN International, located in London. ** [PEN America](/source/PEN_America) – Located in New York City. ** [PEN Canada](/source/PEN_Canada) – Located in Toronto, Canada. ** [Sydney PEN](/source/Sydney_PEN) – One of the three PEN centers of Australia, located in Sydney. ** [PEN Centre Germany](/source/PEN_Centre_Germany) – Established in 1924. ** [Hungarian PEN Club](/source/Hungarian_PEN_Club) – Established in 1926. ** [PEN Ukraine](/source/PEN_Ukraine) – Established in 1989. ** [Esperanto PEN Centre](/source/Esperanto_PEN_Centre) – Established in 1991, representing [Esperanto](/source/Esperanto) writers. * [PEN literary awards](/source/%3ACategory%3AInternational_PEN_literary_awards) – as awarded by and in conjunction with PEN centers around the world. * [Tunisia Monitoring Group](/source/Tunisia_Monitoring_Group) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Mauthner|first=Martin|title=German Writers in French Exile, 1933–1940|url=https://archive.org/details/germanwritersinf0000maut|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Valentine Mitchell |location=London |isbn=978-0-85303-540-4 |edition=1st publ.}}. *''Pen International: An Illustrated History: Literature Knows No Frontiers,'' by Carles Torner, [Jennifer Clement](/source/Jennifer_Clement), [Peter D. McDonald](/source/Peter_D._McDonald), Jan Martens, Ginevra Avalle, Rachel Potter, and Laetitia Zecchini, 2021. Northampton, Massachusetts: [Interlink Books](/source/Interlink_Books), an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group. ==External links== {{Div col|colwidth=22em}} * [http://www.pen-international.org PEN International] * [http://www.pen.org PEN America] * [http://www.pencanada.ca PEN Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406002659/http://www.pencanada.ca/ |date=6 April 2007 }} * [http://www.englishpen.org English PEN] * [https://www.pen-deutschland.de/en/ PEN Centre Germany] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411182247/https://www.pen-deutschland.de/en/ |date=11 April 2023 }} (PEN-Zentrum Deutschland) * [https://www.penclub.fr/ French PEN Center] (PEN Club Français) * [http://www.penclub-monaco.org PEN Monaco] * [http://www.pen.org.tr PEN Turkey Center] (PEN Türkiye Merkezi) {{div col end}} {{Authority control}} Category:PEN International Category:1921 establishments in England Category:Freedom of expression organizations Category:International organisations based in London Category:International professional associations Category:Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark Category:Organizations established in 1921 Category:Professional associations based in the United Kingdom Category:Writers' organizations --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [PEN International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN_International) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN_International?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.