English PEN Introduces Concessionary Membership

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English PEN Introduces Concessionary Membership

English PEN is delighted to announce the introduction of a Concessionary Membership. This new membership is set at 40% of the Standard Membership cost. It is open to anyone who is low-waged or unwaged, a student, retired, or in receipt of government benefits, and replaces the previous, age-limited Under 26 Membership.

One of English PEN’s guiding principles is that ‘Literature knows no frontiers.’ Accordingly, we want membership with English PEN to be accessible to as many people as possible. We’re keenly aware of the barriers to participation created by structural inequalities in the UK, and also of the devastating impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on many people’s finances. We hope that this new tier of membership will be a welcome option for those who would like to be part of English PEN’s work, but for whom a Standard Membership is financially prohibitive.

Marion Rankine, Membership and Administration Officer at English PEN

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Membership with English PEN is open to all who subscribe to the aims outlined in the PEN Charter, namely:

1. Literature, national though it may be in origin, knows no frontiers, and should remain a common currency between nations in spite of political or international upheavals.

2. In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion.

3. Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect between nations and people; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel all hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world.

4. PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations; and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong as well as throughout the world whenever this is possible. PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organized political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortions of fact for political and personal ends.

Members of English PEN are part of a global movement united in a belief in the freedom to read and the freedom to write. They are the backbone of English PEN’s work, adding their voices to cases where these freedoms are endangered both in the UK and elsewhere. English PEN members benefit from exclusive members’ calls; regular updates on English PEN’s campaigns, events and translation work; early access to tickets and events information; and participation in the AGM.

The other levels of English PEN membership are: Standard Membership, priced at £50 per annum; PEN Advocate (£150p/a); PEN Protector (£250p/a); and Silver PEN Member (£1000p/a). The Concessionary Membership is open to those who are: retired; a student; in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance, Disability Benefits, Income Support, or Working Tax Credits; low-waged (earning less than the UK Living Wage or London Living Wage); or unwaged.