PEN International
International P.E.N. is the foremost international
organization of writers. It was launched in London in 1921 as a private
peace-through-literature initiative, in a way anticipating UNESCO's
universal vocation. A British novelist, Mrs. C.A. Dawson Scott, founded
the first P.E.N Club in London. John Galsworthy became International
P.E.N's first President.
The acronym P.E.N. refers to poets, essayists and
novelists, but the organization embraces non-fiction authors, historians,
lawyers, editors, translators and others engaged in the dissemination
of all kinds of literature. The acronym also stands for that writing
instrument, potentially more powerful than the sword (Cervantes/Richelieu).
At the end of the First World War, intellectuals
and writers were convinced that the “war to end all wars”
had been a colossal calamity, and a thoroughly avoidable conflagration.
Henceforth it should be a high priority of writers to endeavor to
build bridges among nations and peoples, in order to help prevent
future wars through better understanding of our common values and
interests, through open dialogue over our differences and through
sincere efforts to settle potential sources of conflict. Indeed, if
we know each other’s literature, we would be less afraid of
our neighbors, because we would recognize our very own yearnings and
feelings in their novels and poetry. Thus, we should make words --
instead of war.
Remember the commonalities between the German Erich
Maria Remarque in his touching novel “All quiet in the Western
Front” and the poetic forebodings of the British soldier Wilfred
Owen in his
Anthem for Doomed Youth (1917)
What passing bells for those who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in the eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
The First World War, in which some 9 million Europeans lost their
lives, would yet be followed by the Second World War, even more frightful
than the first, claiming some 50 million lives. How many artists lost
their lives in those wars, how many were silenced by the traumata?
The objectives of P.E.N. are: a) To promote intellectual co-operation
and understanding among writers; b) To create a world community of
writers that would emphasize the central role of literature in the
development of world culture; and, c) To defend literature against
the many threats to its survival which the modern world poses.
As of January 2009, P.E.N. encompasses 148 Centres in 104 countries
on six continents - with a total membership of more than 10,000.
International PEN has many sub-committees, including a Writers for
Peace Committee (Chair: Edvard Kovac), a Women Writers Committee
(Chair: Judith Buckrich) and a Writers in Prison Committee (Chair:
Karin Clark). It holds yearly Congresses in cities throughout the
world. In November 2003 the 69th Congress took place in Mexico City,
under the Presidency of Homero Aridjis (Mexico). In September 2004
the 70th Congress took place in Tromsö, Norway, under the newly
elected International PEN President Dr. Jiri Grusa (Czech Republic),
the 71st Congress took place in Bled, Slovenia, in June 2005, the
72nd Congress in Berlin, Germany, in May 2006. The 73rd Congress
was held 4-11 July 2007 in Dakar, Senegal, where the World Education
Forum took place in 2000. The 74th Congress was held in Bogota
Colombia in September 2008. The 75th Congress was held
in Linz, Austria, in October 2009. The Canadian John Ralston Saul
was elected president for the coming 3 years.
At the Berlin Congress from 22 to 28 May, Gunther Grass, the Nobel
laureate for literature, delivered a most thought-provoking opening
speech, making the link between writers and peace, from Aristophanes
during the Peloponnesian war to Andreas Gryphius during the Thirty
Years War, to Harold Pinter during the Iraq and other on-going armed
conflicts of today.
At the Dakar Congress Eugene Schoulgin was elected new Secretary-General
of
PEN International. Eric Lax was elected Treasurer. The four new members
of the executive committee are Kristin T, Schnider of the Deutschweizer
Zentrum, Haroon Siddiqui of PEN Canada, Mike Butscher of PEN Sierra
Leone, and Hori Takeaki of PEN Japan.
There are three P.E.N. Centres in Switzerland, one for the German-speaking,
one for the French-speaking, and one for the Italian-speaking writers.
P.E.N. Suisse romande entertains close relations with the other
two Swiss Centres, the Deutschschweizer P.E.N. Zentrum and the Centro
P.E.N. della Svizzera italiana e retoromancia. In 2005 the three
P.E.N. Centres in Switzerland signed an agreement so as to coordinate
nationwide activities, such as participation in the Geneva book
fair and in conferences on behalf of writers in prison. The Presidency
of the new coordinating committee rotates. First president
was Kristin Schnider of the Swiss-German PEN, current president is
Alfred de Zayas/Mousse Boulanger of the Suisse romand Centre. Next
president will be Franca Tiberto of the Swiss-Italian Centre.
P.E.N. Centre Suisse romande was founded in 1949, and it welcomes
all French-speaking writers residing in Switzerland. Most of our members
come from Geneva, Nyon, Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, Aigle, Leysin,
Martigny, Sion, Sierre, Fribourg, Morat, Neuchatel, La Chaux de Fonds,
Delemont, Yverdon, but, of course, some reside in the frontier regions
of Gex, Ferney-Voltaire and even Thonon-les-Bains. On 11 March 2006,
the General Assembly of our Centre elected me as its new President
for a term of three years, thus following in the distinguished footsteps
of the admirable Geneva poet Vahe Godel, the novelist and philosopher
Fawzia Assaad, the poet and editor Alexis Koutchoumow, the television
commentator Jean-Pierre Moulin and the great Denis de Rougemont. At
the Geneva book fair (27 April to 1 May 2006) we had our own stand
and many of our poets, essayists and novelists came to meet with other
authors and sign their books.
Our Centre also entertains synergies with many other organizations
which similarly promote the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
freedom of research, access to information including internet. We
are active in the Club de la Presse in Geneva, the Geneva Writers
Group, the Societé des Ecrivains de Genève, and Millennium
Solidarity (in which many P.E.N. members serve on the Board, including
Zeki Ergas, Alexis Koutchoumow, Fawzia Assaad, Parfait Bayala and
myself). We have organized panels at the United Nations together
with the Union Internationale des Editeurs. Our Rapporteur for
human rights is our former President, Fawzia Assaad, a well known
face at the Palais des Nations, who for years spoke on behalf of
P.E.N. at the Commission on Human Rights and now represents us
at the Human Rights Council. Our Centre regularly conducts poetry
readings and other literary events together with the United Nations
Society of Writers and its literary journal “Ex Tempore”.
In September 2007 our Centre published the first issue of a new
literary journal "Les Pages Littéraires". A second volume appeared
in March 2009.
Charters:
P.E.N.
Charter as amended at the 69th Congress in Mexico City, November
2003
