December 13, 2011

Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends,

Over the last month I have been able to spend time with some twenty of our Centres in Africa and in Europe - a PEN African Network meeting in Dakar, four days in Sierra Leone with our PEN Centre there, a Forum of Freedom of Expression and Guest Writers in Stockholm, and finally in Milan I got together with Franca Tiberto of the Swiss Italian & Reto-Romansh PEN Centre and Sebastiano Grasso of PEN Italia.

Perhaps the most moving moments of this trip came during the days spent in Sierra Leone, a country pulling itself together after a terrible era of violence and destruction. We have a very strong PEN Centre in Freetown and they are deeply involved in school reading and creative writing programs (these are called PEN School Clubs) along with a number of other African PEN Centres. PEN Sierra Leone has 40 programs in schools all over the country.

I had always thought that these must be wonderful programs, but I admit that I tended to associate them as much with literacy as with literature. Now, I realize that they are really about literature, creativity, self-confidence, speaking out in public and freedom of expression. They are about the students writing creatively and reading literature. These are teenagers in secondary schools. They may be in neat school uniforms, but most of them are living in circumstances which would prevent them from moving on to college or university, let alone becoming writers or active citizens, speaking up with their ideas. PEN's school programs give them an extra edge – the power and the dignity of imagination released in a formal way. This allows them to unleash their eagerness and to develop the strength to engage publically.

I went with Mohamed Sheriff (PEN Sierra Leone President), Nathaniel Pearce (Head of the reading program) and Allieu Kamara (PEN Sierra Leone Secretary) to a girls' school, Our Lady of Guadalupe, several hours outside of Freetown. Hundreds of teenagers were literally jostling to perform their plays, read their poems and their stories. At two events in Freetown, I had long talks with some of the students and heard them reading poems on violence and life as a street kid.

All of this is PEN doing its job, on the ground, in the real world. Frankly, we could do with programs like these in most of our countries.

Yes, PEN has always been about established and leading writers as examples of literature and freedom of expression. But thousands of our members are important examples of freedom of expression without the protection of a big language or an established publishing system. Many of the writers we work to protect are unknown and unpublished for political or economic reasons. And beneath all of that lies the real basis of literature and free expression - an engaged citizenry, reading, writing and speaking out.

There were some ten Centres at the PAN meeting in Dakar where we were guests of PEN Senegal. It was a fascinating discussion over several days about how PAN should organize itself. Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah was reconfirmed as Secretary General; Mohamed Magani, who had preceded him, came back as the chair of a new board of seven members. Some provisional organizational structures were proposed and Harruna is now busy with PAN members looking for a consensus.

After the PAN meeting a year ago in Cairo, this was another reminder of how strong our African Centres are. And there is a real desire to create more of them.

In Stockholm I was at a gathering organized by the Swedish Arts Council that involved all the Nordic PEN Centres, as well as ICORN and various local authorities. This was aimed at convincing more cities to create places for writers not able to live in their own countries. There was also a good discussion about how to work with these guest writers to help them build a viable life in a country which is not their own.

Swedish PEN also to put out a statement on the responsibilities of digital communications companies when it comes to selling technology to governments like those of Belarus and Syria. This fits in with the policy work being done by our Digital Rights Committee and I used the occasion of the meeting to talk about this growing problem.

While there I also had a chance to have a good discussion about PEN with our former International President, Per Wästberg, and separately with the former Chair of the WIPC, Thomas von Vegesack.

All best wishes for the Roman calendar New Year!

John Ralston Saul

Dear PEN Members, Dear Friends,

Sixteen years ago today, our colleague Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged by Nigerian officials for writing and speaking, and doing so persistently. I was in southern Tunisia with a group of writers and film makers when I heard the awful news. Many of us remember that day very specifically, with a sort of bitter shame.

PEN had worked hard for Ken Saro-Wiwa's freedom; for his life. And we failed. And we felt that failure.

This life of literature and free speech of which we are all part has never been a pretty thing or a gentleman's respectable undertaking. It has always had a rough and risky side to it. Sometimes those risks are merely financial or involve social alienation or the difficulty of finding a public. Sometimes they involve prison, exile, death. With Ken Saro-Wiwa all the facets of the full risk were played out. Here was the terrible reminder that you could be talented, famous, and you could be right. Yet mediocre, authoritarian officials could hang you and mutilate your body.

Each time I think of our campaigns, the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa re-emerges. We need to do what we do with such a careful balance of determination and care. Lives are in play.

Mexico is an example of this complexity and I know that many of you took part in our Mexican Day of the Dead campaign on November 2nd. There are dozens of other very different examples. Think of Dawit Isaak, whose life hangs in the balance in Eritrea.

- - - - - -

We had an interesting opportunity to explain our work at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. I had had a conversation a few months before with its Director, Juergen Boos, and for the first time PEN International was invited to take part. Laura McVeigh and Ali Nihat came with me and we had a number of events. First, German PEN is always there with a stand and I was able to take part with their President, Johano Strasser and their Secretary General, Herbert Wiesner in their annual Frankfurt press conference, focused on Egyptien publisher Mohamed Hashem, the winner of their 2011 Hermann Kesten Prize.

We also did a major launch of the PEN International Publishers Circle in what is called the Weltempfang – Frankfurt's new Centre for Politics, Literature and Translation.

This took the form of a public session with Eva Bonnier, Chair of the Swedish Publishers Association, Ronald Blunden, VP of Hachette Livre and Anders Heger, Norwegian PEN president representing Norwegian publishers. I chaired the event. It was called Free the Word: Times of Transition. Quite a few PEN Centres were there, for example Kaiser ÖzHun of Uyghur PEN and Kaitlin Kaldmaa of PEN Estonia; and a big crowd.

The next morning we had a good meeting with many of the members of the Publishers Circle to discuss its activities. The idea for now is to concentrate on supporting publishing in chosen countries where it is difficult. Thanks to the leadership taken by our PEN Centres in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Canada, the Publishers Circle now has 14 members. Starting with the three international founders - Hachette Livre, Penguin Group and Random House - they are: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (Norway), Aschehoug forlag (Norway), Cappelen Damm (Norway), Albert Bonnier Forlag (Sweden), KF Media AB/Norstat (Sweden), De Oberoende (Sweden), Natur & Kultur (Sweden), Söderströms förlag (Finland), House of Anansi Press (Canada), Douglas & McIntyre (Canada) and Harper Collins (Canada). The idea is to take it to between 30 and 35 members. One of the practical results is that we are building up the percentage of unrestricted funds in our budget.

The Book Fair also asked me to give the Weltempfang opening speech on behalf of PEN. The oral record is on our new website.

We are already talking about an annual role for PEN International at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This is all part of us taking our messages to a broader public. I should add that Iceland was the guest of honour this year. Sjón and many other of our Iceland PEN members were in the spotlight.

On a practical front, the Digital Media and Communications group chaired by Hori Takeaki and made up of Marian Botsford Fraser and Margie Orford has begun to work. Eric Lax's group on structural reform has already received written suggestions from some of you.

All best wishes,

John Ralston Saul

Dear friends, Dear PEN members,

Those of you who were in Belgrade have had some time to report to your members. And all of you have received a fast, preliminary report from our Executive Director, Laura McVeigh – a very good new initiative. The cleared up resolutions have also gone out to you – again a new emphasis on getting action documents to you fast.

It was a very successful Congress, thanks to the incredible work of Serbian PEN. For those of you who were not in Belgrade, here are a few highlights:

Almost 90 Centres sent delegates, maintaining the high level of the Congress in Tokyo. Could we get to 100 in Korea? One solution would be more pairing of Centres.

There was strong representation from all areas except Latin America. We must concentrate on this.

The Belgrade Congress was to be centered on Balkan reconciliation and that was very much the feeling. A Balkan network was created with 13 PEN Centres at a very moving meeting. This act of reconciliation carries an important message about the Balkans, but also to other divided areas in the world.

The Assembly has clearly asked for some reform of PEN's structures. I am very excited about this and would add that we need serious changes in the make-up of the Assembly itself.

Immediately after the Congress there was a Board and Committee Chairs retreat. We have set up a small Committee chaired by Eric Lax to consult you on structural reforms and to make a proposal. The Executive and Laura will tackle the question of Assembly structures. All suggestions are very welcome.

The Girona Manifesto is now an official PEN International policy. I think of it as our Charter on Linguistic Rights. With the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee, we must now develop policies to give the Manifesto some real legs.

The Peace Committee put forward what is in effect its charter; its rules for action. This also was adopted by the Assembly.

There was a concentrated focus on the terrible situation in Mexico. On the Day of the Dead – November 2 – there will be a global PEN action. If you haven't heard about it already, you will.

The Board decided that the distribution inside PEN of Rapid Action Network urgent messages, that up until now have been limited to WIPC member Centres, should go to all Centres. We are all concerned by the state of writers.

Out of the opening full Assembly discussion on PEN's future came the welcome suggestion that we move urgently to develop a PEN International strategy on the effect of new technologies on freedom of expression. We ran out of time to discuss this at the Board retreat, so the Executive has set up a three person Committee, chaired by Hori Takeaki and including Marian Botsford Fraser. We need the third member as fast as possible. Again, all suggestions are welcome. The committee will gather information and make recommendations to the Board. We hope to have a clear strategy to bring to the next Congress.

Regarding new faces at the Congress, for the first time in years Brazilian PEN was present and eager to play a role. They have already offered to try to help in Latin America. Haitian PEN was also back and eager to develop their Centre.

The China PEN Centre (Beijing) was present for the first time since Berlin. This produced a clear difference of opinion on the situation in China. Their view was not shared by other delegates. In an unprecedented initiative, the Assembly opened with a motion from the floor, moved by Serbian PEN and second by Japan PEN, to congratulate Mario Vargas Llosa and Liu Xiaobo on their Nobel prizes and call for the release of Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia. This was passed unanimously. Later a detailed resolution from the Writers in Prison committee on the situation of imprisoned writers in China was passed with no objections.

Of course, the discussion over the situation in China was not an easy one for delegates. But the reality is that the China PEN Centre (Beijing) was present; their delegates expressed themselves; delegates from the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and many others Centres replied; PEN International's position was reaffirmed by the Assembly; many delegates took the opportunity to have lengthy conversations with the returning Centre.

All of this was a demonstration of our Charter. We stand for unlimited freedom of expression. We also stand for dialogue and bringing people together. And the clarity of our position, along with our belief in dialogue, are all part of our work to free writers in China.

Immediately after the Congress, the Board, the Committee Chairs and the senior staff held their retreat at Novi Sad. For once we weren't struggling to hear each other over bad phone lines. We missed Mohamed Magani, who had just retired. We welcomed back Yang Lian, who was re-elected in Belgrade, and we welcomed Sylvestre Clancier who had been elected by the Assembly. Twenty four hours of working together was incredibly valuable and we will try to do it again in late spring/early summer.

Immediately after the retreat, I went to the Gothenburg Book Fair to take part in an unacceptable ceremony – the 10th anniversary of Dawit Isaak's imprisonment with his colleagues in Eritrea, many of whom have died in what amounts to a death camp. With two Nobel laureates – our former president, Mario Vargas Llosa and Herta Müller – alongside Peter Englund, the Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, and Ola Larsmo, the President of Swedish PEN, we launched a new Eritrean campaign. I then met with some Swedish publishers who have joined the PEN International Publishers Circle, and then with Finnish Publishers, who we hope will join.

Enough! This is very long, but a lot had happened.

Best wishes to you all,

John

12 October 2011

Formed by PEN International with founder members Hachette Livre, Penguin Books and Random House early in
2011, the PEN International Publishers' Circle announces its expansion today to embrace Scandinavian and
Canadian Publishers, and its intention to grow across the world in the coming year. The Circle welcomes
amongst its members the Swedish publishers Forlag AB, KF Media AB, Natur & Kultur and the independents'
group De Oberoende. Norway will be represented by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Aschehoug Forlag and Cappelen
Damm, whilst Harper Collins Canada and Douglas & McIntyre have joined from Canada.

The PEN International Publishers' Circle is the first organization of its kind. It believes that improving Freedom
of Expression for writers creates the conditions needed for a successful and active publishing industry. The
Circle invites publishers around the world, large and small, to support PEN's work developing Freedom of
Expression and ensuring that publishers and writers are free to operate in all countries and readers are free to
access the books of their choice. PEN International President John Ralston Saul commented, "Without a solid
publishing system, whether for books or journalism or any new technology, you cannot have freedom of speech.
The purpose of the Publishers' Circle is to join the work of publishing with PEN's work on Freedom of Expression."

PEN is marking its growing cooperation with the publishing world at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest media
and book fair in the world. At the PEN International event Free the Word: Times of Transition, John Ralston Saul
will be joined by leading figures from the worlds of writing and publishing to discuss the social, political and
technological transitions which are the evolving the challenges to freedom of expression and literature.
Speakers include Ronald Blunden, Head of Communications at Hachette Livre; Eva Bonnier, Chairman of
Swedish Publishing Association and Publisher at Forlag AB; and Anders Heger, writer, publisher with Cappelen
Damm, and President of Norwegian PEN.

Anders Heger says of Cappelen Damm's participation: "For a publishing house that aspires to play a role in
promoting freedom of speech, it is an honour to support PEN International and its vital work." Eva Bonnier,
Chairman of the Swedish Publishers Association, has highlighted the concrete steps that the Circle will take,
commenting, "It is key that we fight for freedom of speech around the world. As Forlag AB, we are proud to be
making a concrete commitment to this cause."

Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, has expressed PEN's place at the heart of the fair: "For many
years, PEN International has been a fixed part of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Freedoms of speech, of press and of
opinion have to be fought for anew, every day. These freedoms are the foundation of our whole industry. They
are what PEN International stands for, and that is why we support PEN International."

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:
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Or contact our Executive Director Laura McVeigh:
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