International PEN was created in 1921, in the words of PEN’s
founder, Catharine Amy Dawson Scott, “to draw the nations
together … in literature…”.
PEN’s first President, the Nobel Prize winner John
Galsworthy regarded it as an organization “that makes for
international understanding and peace”.
By the time of Mrs Dawson Scott’s death in 1934, the idea
of writers everywhere bound together by friendship and respect
for each other's opinions had developed into a world-wide
association. The
aims and principles of PEN are expressed in the PEN Charter, and
its work in support of these aims is carried out through its
international meetings, through individual exchanges, through
contacts between Centres and through its Standing Committees and
networks.
International PEN operates four Standing Committees whose
membership consists of the various Centres of PEN.
The Writers in
Prison Committee monitors human rights abuses committed
against writers and journalists world-wide and campaigns on
their behalf. Such
work has in many cases led to the liberation of imprisoned
writers or at least an improvement in their situations.
In addition, member Centres provide individual support,
sending prisoners greetings cards, parcels of clothes, medicines
and books, and working to sustain their families.
The Translation
and linguistic Rights Committee promotes the translation of
works written in minority languages into world languages, to
overcome the barrier to understanding raised by difference of
language.
It works to support the right to existence of
minority languages, and the cultures they embody, and has
prepared an article on linguistic rights which PEN has
recommended should be added to the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
The Writers for
peace Committee, through seminars and programmes, seeks ways
for writers to contribute to peace, in particular drawing
attention to the misuse of language to disguise national
violence and ethnic cleansing.
The Women
Writers’ Committee focuses on the particular concerns of
women writers that have resulted from the traditional position
of women within the social, cultural and religious structures of
nations.
One other body within PEN provides the means of
supporting writers in difficulties.
International PEN has established a
Writers in Exile Network,
whose aim is to be a source of data to facilitate support for
exiled writers, and to assist their creative endeavours by
providing much-needed guidance and advice together with moral
and, where possible, material support.
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The Regulations of PEN state that “Membership of PEN shall be
confined to writers, editors and translators, qualified by
reason of literary merit or body of work, who subscribe to the
aims of the Charter, without regard to nationality language,
race, colour or religion.”
All those who wish to be members must sign a copy of the
PEN Charter, to demonstrate that they uphold its aims and
principles.
The procedure for founding a Centre is to circulate writers in
the country concerned with the proposal, and to invite those
that are able to do so to attend a public meeting.
At that meeting whoever is co-ordinating would explain
what is involved in setting up a PEN Centre, the obligations
people would be undertaking if they wished to join, and the
considerable and important positive benefits of becoming part of
International PEN.
Obviously it is desirable also to circulate this information to
others who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend.
Those who wish to become members of the proposed Centre,
of whom there must be at least 20, would then be asked to sign a
copy of the Charter and to provide biographical and
bibliographical details, both of which must be forwarded to
London.
Once elected to International PEN by the Assembly of
Delegates at Congress, a new Centre is invested with all the
rights and obligations of a Centre.
It is entitled to send up to two delegates to meetings of
the Assembly of Delegates, which takes place once a year in
conjunction with the annual Congress, and the host Centre must
provide hotel accommodation for those delegates. (Other members
are free to attend, but at their own expense.)
It is also entitled to propose resolutions to the
Assembly and has the right to vote.
It receives one free subscription to the magazine
PEN International, and is encouraged to take out more
subscriptions on behalf of its members.
Out of its own membership fees, each Centre pays
international dues to PEN in London.
The level of dues per
member is set each year according to the World Bank
classification of economies.
The classification is based on per capita income, and
there are four categories of country, and therefore four dues
rates – in 2007 these range from $19, for Centres in the
high-income economies, to $5 for those in countries in the
low-income economies.
These dues are a crucial part of the headquarters’
income, and indeed PEN could not exist without them.
Most Centres are able to establish their own membership
fees at a rate that enables them to pay the full amount.
A few Centres do not have enough income to pay more than
a proportion of their dues each year; however, in all such cases
this has to be by agreement with the International Treasurer;
and because the organization as a whole is dependent on the dues
to survive, it is unlikely that such a situation can continue –
ways will have to be found, perhaps through funded projects, to
raise the funds to pay dues for at least the minimum number of
members.
Centres are autonomous bodies, provided that they abide
strictly by the terms and spirit of the Charter and by the
Constitution of PEN.
They establish their own constitutions and organization,
elect a president, a secretary and an executive board, set their
own membership fees, and arrange their own programmes of
activities. They
are required to report on their activities and
provide information on the number of their current
members each year to the International Secretariat in London.
They may be invited to attend regional meetings and
seminars organized by other Centres, and of course it is very
much hoped that they will send delegates to Congress, both to
take part in the debates of the Assembly of Delegates and
meetings of the Standing Committees of PEN, and also to
participate in the literary activities and to meet PEN members
from all areas of the world.
Any applications to found a new Centre are considered by the
Assembly of Delegates meeting at the next Congress.
The International PEN Secretariat needs the signed copies
of the Charter and bio-bibliographies perhaps three months
earlier. It is not a requirement under PEN’s Regulations that
one of the founder members should attend the Congress to present
the application; but if it is possible for someone to be there
(at the prospective Centre’s, or their own, expense) it is
desirable.
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The above goes into some detail on some aspects of what being a
Centre of PEN involves. These necessarily refer to Regulations,
international membership dues and so on. More difficult to
convey is what membership of PEN gives to individual writers. It
brings contact among writers at a local level, through the
activities of the Centre, which might consist of a programme of
meetings with invited local or visiting speakers or discussions,
or perhaps setting up a programme of taking writers into
schools, etc.; but also it brings contact with writers from
other countries within the immediate area, the wider region and
across the world, through participation in inter-Centre meetings
of all kinds, including of course the annual International
Congress.
The Standing Committees provide a means for a Centre to
participate in working on behalf of imprisoned or harassed
writers, wherever these may be, or languages that are under
threat, or on the special problems of women writers, etc. And at
the same time of course they provide their own network of
contacts among the member Centres.
All of this depends on the officers of a Centre being able to
give time and energy to running it, which understandably is
often not very easy for people to give – but the rewards are
considerable, as the existence of 139 PEN Centres attests.
Appendix
Due process in forming a PEN Centre
Guided by the Constitution of International PEN and NGO
tradition, a constitutional process to establish a Centre might
be as follows:
A core group of interested people should form a Steering
Committee and/or select a Convenor to co-ordinate the outreach
necessary for a broad invitation to a public constitutional
meeting.
The Convenor should attempt, through wide publicity, networks
and personal contacts, to reach all writers/editors/translators
and other individuals who might be considered to be presumptive
future members of a PEN Centre with this invitation, informing
them of the date, place and time of such a meeting, and
suggesting that should it be decided to go ahead with setting up
a Centre, participants will be asked to provide a brief
bio-bibliography.
At the public meeting the Convenor should inform those attending
about International PEN, its mission and work, and discuss with
participants the possibilities of establishing a PEN Centre.
Should it be agreed to proceed further, the Convenor should have
ready to present to participants at the meeting a proposed
Agenda, which must include:
1.
A call for a list of participants to be circulated and
minuted
2.
A decision to appoint a Chair and Secretary for the
meeting, who shall ensure that
minutes are kept
3.
A decision to accept the Agenda of the meeting
4.
A draft constitution for the proposed Centre, to be voted
on (copies to be
available to
all participants), which shall include:
5.
Elections of Officers and Board
If the draft constitution is adopted (perhaps to be confirmed at
a later meeting), and officers are elected, then the newly
elected President or other representative should be mandated by
the meeting to apply to International PEN for membership
affiliation. The
minutes of the meeting should accompany this application.
Copies of the PEN Charter for each individual participant
wishing to join PEN should be available for signature at the end
of the meeting.
Participants should also give the Convenor copies of their
bio-bibliographies, if they have brought them, or undertake to
send them as soon as possible after the meeting.
A constitution may of course be framed according to any number
of traditions, but must be compatible with modern NGO standards.
The International PEN secretariat will gladly assist in
answering any questions on these matters.
Examples of a Centre constitution are available on
request.
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