Leading writers unite in fight for free expression

PEN International, the worldwide community of writers and foremost advocate for free expression, meets in Tokyo this week to urge increased campaigning on behalf of silenced and imprisoned colleagues. Hundreds of writers from across the globe will gather from 25th September to 1st October at PEN’s 76th International Congress.

On the eve of the Congress, John Ralston Saul, PEN International’s President, has issued a warning: ‘Let us not deceive ourselves. This is an increasingly dangerous era for freedom of expression, and so for literature and for smaller cultures. There is a new authoritarianism on the rise around the world, including growing waves of old-fashioned nationalism, bigotry and populism on every continent. We are here in Tokyo to stand up and make our voices heard on behalf of those who are stopped from writing and speaking out.’

Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian of China and Canadian novelist and Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood will take part in a remarkable programme of events celebrating literature and promoting freedom of expression. Addressing the theme The Environment and Literature – What can words do?, PEN International will seek new ways to raise awareness of key issues among readers and writers across the globe, with a particular focus on the state of free expression in the Asia Pacific region in countries such as China, Burma, Vietnam and Nepal.

John Ralston Saul continues: ‘We see frightening situations in countries such as Mexico, where the murder of journalists is running ever more out of control. We face deeply frustrating situations in countries such as China and Vietnam, where the imprisoning of writers continues to undermine the credibility of their governments in the rest of the world.’

The year 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. Since 1960, the Committee has been at the forefront of global campaigning for the rights of writers to freely express their ideas. Throughout the year, PEN Centres across the world have been celebrating this milestone with events, writings, petitions, special projects and much more. Defending or having defended prominent writers such as Aung San Suu Kyi, Liu Xiaobo, Vaclav Havel, Salman Rushdie and Josef Brodsky, PEN International now campaigns on behalf of almost 900 print and Internet writers, editors and journalists. The 50th anniversary campaign, Because Writers Speak their Minds, will be marked with a special exhibition during the 76th Congress that highlights its many achievements.

The Congress is hosted and organised by Japan PEN, one of the leading PEN Centres in the Asia Pacific region. Japan PEN also hosted the Congress on two previous occasions, in 1984 and 1957; the latter was attended by luminary writers such as John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos.

PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, its global community of writers now spans more than 100 countries. PEN programmes, campaigns, events and publications connect writers and readers wherever they are in the world.