THE P.E.N : 'FREE THE WORD' and 'FREEDOM of EXPRESSION'

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Important PEN Events:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Local News~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The PEN All-India Centre, Kolkata,

cordially invites you and your friends to a memorable Evening of Poetry Reading
On 7th july 2008
Place: Bangla Academy, Jibananda Sabha Ghar, Time : Evening 5.p.m.

ENTRY IS FREE

POETRY READING & BOOKS PUBLISHING

Two books written by Mr. Anirban Roy Chowdhury will be published

following Poetry performance by A host of renowned poets.

RAINBOW ARTISTS AND WRITERS FOUNDATION and All-india PEN are holding a seminar on 'FREE THE WORD' and 'FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION', keep in watch, if you have your explanation on this topic pls. contact Albert Ashok , 033 2560 0070, email - rawfoundation@ymail.com

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International News

Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary(International PEN), was busy , from late March '08, let us know it from his report: ‘ I was in charming Bled for the Writers for Peace Committee Conference. Interesting speeches and conversations took place, and much was agreed to help improve committee structures. Then the weekend after, I travelled to Glasgow for the Writers in Prison Committee Conference hosted by Scottish PEN. Important plans for the next few years where made, and the commitment and professionalism of the members as well as the office in London you will soon be able to read about on our website. I also enjoyed the ceilidh on the Saturday night where many of us danced more wildly than we have in a very long time! Next I went to London for International PEN's first festival of world literature Free the Word! We were lucky to have many writers with us from all over the globe so thank you to all who took part. In the future we hope to have festivals in other cities working with PEN Centres to Free the Word!’ . (Eugene Schoulgin is an author of Norwegian-Russian origin. He began his career as a writer in 1970 with his first novel The Rabbit Cage).

The news was reflected and echoed by the Executive Director(International PEN), Caroline McCormick that, ‘ The Annual Peace Committee Conference in Bled, the Writers in Prison Committee Conference in Glasgow and the first annual London Free the Word! world literature festival. In addition to all of these events being highly successful, they have also afforded us the opportunity to work closely with a number of you and we are extremely grateful for the partnership and support of the Slovenian, Scottish, English and African Writers Abroad PEN Centres.’

The news as follows: Free the Word! A celebration of world literature

We are delighted to report that the inaugural ‘Free the Word!’ festival took place on London’s South Bank from 11-13 April. Over a long weekend comprising 14 events, and linked by the International PEN annual literary theme of ‘The Writer Next Door’, audiences were treated to 21 writers from as many countries, as well as expert facilitators, interpreters and the writers of the future from our outreach programme. The emphasis was firmly on writers being in dialogue with each other and audiences, as well as key International PEN issues such as translation and freedom of expression. Our literary encounters took place in intimate spaces and informal theatre bar environments as well as imposing auditoria, and we also enjoyed an Insulting Cabaret.

Here is what one audience member had to say about his experience of the Festival: ‘I've been to several festivals of literature in London, but never one that has drawn together such a wide and interesting range of writers from all across the globe and given a platform to so many urgent and courageous voices. I find that quite often you can forget how important a role writing has in many societies, not just as a purely cultural force, but as an instrument for changing societies and changing lives. I think Free the Word! gave us a very strong reminder of that power.’

Listen to Free the Word! events online! We will shortly have photos from many of the events as well as recordings for you to listen to. Please visit the International PEN website within the month to meet the great writers you know and the great writers you don’t...
This news was received from International PEN and published without further addition and omission

Caroline McCormick, Executive Director added the forth coming programmes:
We are now all looking forward to the forthcoming Conference of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee hosted by Macedonian PEN from 5 - 8 June and to the Bogotá Congress, which will take place from 17 - 22 September. In addition to the meetings of the Committees and the Assembly of Delegates, Cecilia Balcazar and her colleagues in Colombian PEN are planning a rich cultural programme, as well as events such a special session focusing on freedom of expression in Latin America. The Congress will see the election of two members of the Board, and of a new Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee and the Translation & Linguistic Rights Committee.

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PEN International Magazine
‘The Writer Next Door’ PEN International Vol. 58 No. 1

The first issue of 2008 takes its cue from International PEN’s annual literary theme, The Writer Next Door. Expect writing from unexpected places - 96 pages of stories, poems, essays and more by Alberto Manguel, Chantal Montellier, Alexis Wright, Alain Mabanckou, Azar Nafisi, André Gorz and many more. This issue also introduces ‘Found in Translation’, a new feature made possible by the generous support of Bloomberg, in which works will appear in translation for the first time in English, French or Spanish.

Forthcoming in September 2008: Context: Latin America and the Caribbean

The latest issue in the ‘Context:’ series featuring contemporary writing from around the world will spotlight new and established writers from Mexico down to the tip of Chile, as well as those based outside Latin America and the Caribbean who have written on these regions. If you would like to contribute, we would love to hear from you! The deadline for submissions is 18 July 2008. Please see the International PEN website for writing and submission guidelines.

Subscribe to PEN International!

Feast on contemporary writing from everywhere for only £10 / €16 / $25 per year. One year’s subscription includes two issues of the magazine in spring and autumn. To subscribe, email pisubscribers@internationalpen.org.uk , or visit http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/ for more information.

A note about prices: Having defied the upward surge in costs generally for many years, PEN International has, alas, had to raise the price of single issues to £5 / €8 / $12.50 and of annual subscriptions to £10 / €16 / $25. We hope you will join or stay with us as we continue to take the magazine in new and exciting directions!

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Committee News
Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee

The Committee will be meeting in Ohrid, Macedonia for its 11th Conference from 5 – 8 June. The role of PEN Centres and their involvement in the work and successes of this Committee will be presented, including contributions made to the Diversity e-collection, as well as a discussion about new translation projects and a round table session entitled ‘Freedom and Fear.’ For more information visit www.diversity.org.mk.

Women Writers Committee

The next IPWWC newsletter will be issued in August following the publication of ‘Our Voice’, the fourth volume of the IPWWC anthology of women writers, containing poems and short stories in English, French and Spanish, published by Biblioteca de Textos Universitarios of the Universidad Católica de Salta.

Writers for Peace Committee

In late March the International PEN Writers for Peace Committee meeting took place in Bled. Many relevant issues were discussed including threatened minority ethnic groups in Iraq such as the Aramaic community and the Mandeans, the Palestinian-Israeli situation, the Serb-Kosovar situation, and the recent Tibetan crisis. The meeting was overseen by the Chair of the Committee, Edvard Kovac. As well as giving space to these important concerns, it also gave the opportunity for old friends to reunite and new friends to meet.

Writers in Prison Committee

The 7th International Conference of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee, hosted by Scottish PEN, was held in Glasgow from 4 - 6 April. Over 55 participants from 29 Centres came to debate issues ranging from religious defamation, Holocaust denial, and incitement to violence, to form campaign strategies including China, and to share ideas and experiences. On the final day, Scottish PEN held a special event on promoting freedom of expression among young people. For more, go to Scottish PEN. Huge thanks to Scottish PEN for making this an extremely successful, and enjoyable, conference. Minutes from this meeting will be available shortly. For more information contact Sara Whyatt on sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk


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News and Events from PEN Centres
All-India PEN: A blog has been started by members of the All-India PEN Centre. To read about their activities and events visit http://penwestbengal.blogspot.com/


Sydney PEN: A groundbreaking collection from Australian Aboriginal writers, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, offers a rich panorama of over 200 years of Aboriginal culture, history and life. It is being published as part of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Project and available from 7 May.


South African PEN: South African PEN is launching a new short story competition for African writers under 40, which will be known as the PEN/Studinski Awards. There will be prizes for first, second and third place winners, at £5,000, £3,000 and £1,000 respectively. For further details and competition guidelines see http://www.sapen.co.za/


Turkish PEN: Turkish PEN celebrated its 58th anniversary on 18 April. They looked back at their progression as a Centre with fondness whilst stating ‘We hope to improve our Centre – both as an institution in Turkey and in terms of intercultural relations. We are eager to embrace all the linguistic and literary diversity and richness in our country.’


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The next newsletter, a special focus on our work with the Latin American and Caribbean PEN Centres, will be available in July 2008.


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

Originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has 145 Centres in 104 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: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/
International PEN is a registered charity, number 1010627
To find out more visit http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/

THE PEN, All-INDIA P.E.N. Centre, West Bengal, (Kolkata, West Bengal,India)

This is a voluntary organization, Kolkata (Calcutta) Chapter.

Web blog: http://penwestbengal.blogspot.com/

for news:http://newsfreedomofexpression.blogspot.com/

Albert Ashok- Phone - 9133 2560 0070, albertashok@yahoo.com