History of English PEN

English PEN started as an occasional London dining club but within a few months had grown far beyond that, spawning PEN centres, meetings and congresses all over Europe and America. The history of English and International PEN are somewhat interlinked at the start, as the former is the foundation centre for the latter. Please click here for a list of our past Presidents.

In 1917 the writer Mrs. C. A Dawson Scott started The To-Morrow Club (for tomorrow's writers), along with young, would-be writers and established authors. The club was designed to provide a place where these young people could meet, talk together and listen to informal lectures. John Galsworthy was among the early speakers and thus began an acquaintanceship which developed into the partnership which later ensured the success of the P.E.N Club - English PEN's name at the time.

The To-Morrow Club was immediately popular and met weekly in Long Acre. From 1918 Mrs. Dawson Scott tried, when in London, to have a weekly dinner for 'my starving men' (and an occasional starving woman), and she would use these opportunities to introduce her protégés to useful people such as literary agents and editors. This was in the aftermath of World War I. Three years later Mrs. Dawson Scott wrote a letter to her daughter: "I've got an Idea! A Dining Club - men and women of repute. I am going to write to Violet (Hunt) about it - she and I could do it (…)".

Recruiting post card

This was to be different from the To-Morrow Club; it was international and aimed at creating a common meeting ground in every country for all writers. John Galsworthy became the President and Chair for the P.E.N. Club and functioned for twelve years as the head of English PEN as well. The first truly international PEN gathering was held in London in 1923, hosted by the English PEN Centre. 11 other centres were by this time established, and delegates as well as honorary members were invited.

In 1944, during World War II, with bombs falling nearby, a great symposium was arranged. Prominent thinkers gathered in London to discuss 'The place of Spiritual and Economic Values in the Future of Mankind'. English PEN sought to pay tribute to the idea that 'the human mind, if it is to develop to the full measure of its potentialities, must be free: free to grow, free to express itself, free to blunder, to make mistakes, and try again.'

Moving into the 1960s the Writers in Prison Committee was set up, with the express aim to protect writers who are faced with incarceration for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. For many years English PEN published poetry anthologies, giving aspiring and established writers the opportunity to get their work in print and be noticed.

Though it started as a dining club, English PEN today is an organisation with diverse projects, aiming to promote free expression and the use of literature as currency between nations. The Events programme started out as dinner meetings held to entertain a renowned domestic or foreign writer. Today, regular events are held to inspire and provoke members of English PEN; dealing with important contemporary issues, as well as aiming to stimulate to further writing. English PEN has recordings of most of the events from 1953 onwards. These are available for borrowing.

The Readers and Writers Programme was launched in 2000, aiming to build bridges between authors and people. When English PEN started the creation of such programmes was not a part of its remit, but has today turned into an important part of English PEN's work. The R&W programme has received much appreciation from many diverse individuals.

English PEN has enhanced the international angle of the centre through the Writers in Translation Programme. This way, controversial books which have trouble being published in the author's country of origin can apply for the necessary funds to be translated and published in English. 

Campaigns to raise awareness of free expression issues are also a part of English PEN's work today. As part of the No Offence campaign PEN/Penguin published Free Expression is No Offence, an anthology of writing on te subject of free expression, edited by Lisa Appignanesi.  

Resources:

Ould, Hermon 1944: Freedom of expression, a symposium. The Fleet Street Press

Watts, Marjorie 1971: P.E.N. - The Early Year 1921 - 1926. Archive Press Ltd.