PEN International facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
PEN International

Formation	1921; 104 years ago (1921)
Type	NGO
Purpose	Promote literature and defend freedom of expression worldwide.
Headquarters	London
Region served	International
President	Burhan Sönmez

Catherine Amy Dawson Scott, who helped start PEN International

PEN International is a global group for writers. It was started in London in 1921. Its main goal is to help writers around the world become friends and work together.

This group also wants to show how important literature is for people to understand each other. They fight for writers to be able to say what they think freely. PEN International also speaks up for writers who are in trouble, jailed, or even harmed because of their ideas.

The Story of PEN International

How PEN Began

The very first PEN Club started in London on October 5, 1921. A writer named Catherine Amy Dawson Scott founded it. John Galsworthy was its first president.

Some of the first members were famous writers like Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Craig, George Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells.

What PEN Stands For

When it first started, PEN stood for "Poets, Essayists, Novelists." Now, it means "Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists." It includes writers of all kinds, like journalists and historians.

PEN's Main Goals

The club set out to achieve these important goals:

• To help writers work together and understand each other.
• To create a worldwide community of writers. This community would show how literature helps develop world culture.
• To protect literature from anything that threatens it in the modern world.

The current president of PEN International is Burhan Sönmez. Many famous writers have been presidents before him. These include E. M. Forster, Arthur Miller, and Mario Vargas Llosa.

How PEN International Works

Where PEN is Located

PEN International has its main office in London. It has many smaller groups called PEN Centres in over 100 countries. Writers, journalists, translators, and historians can join these local centres.

PEN and Global Organizations

PEN International is a non-governmental organization (NGO). This means it's not part of any government. It works closely with UNESCO. It also has a special role with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

PEN's Main Beliefs (The Charter)

PEN has a set of beliefs called its Charter. These ideas come from decisions made at its big international meetings.

PEN believes that:

• Literature should not have borders. It should be shared by people everywhere, even during wars or big political changes.
  
• Artworks, which belong to all people, should not be harmed by national or political feelings, especially during wartime.
  
• PEN members should always use their influence to help nations and people understand and respect each other. They promise to do their best to stop hatred. They also promise to support the idea of all people living in peace and equality.
  
• PEN supports the idea of thoughts being shared freely within and between all countries. Members promise to fight against any way that freedom of speech is stopped. This applies in their own country and community, and anywhere else in the world if possible. PEN believes in a free press and is against unfair censorship when there is peace. It thinks that for the world to improve, governments and groups must be open to criticism. Since freedom also means being responsible, members promise to fight against bad things a free press might do. This includes lying, purposely saying false things, or twisting facts for political or personal reasons.

Writers in Prison Committee

This committee helps writers who are in danger around the world. It started in 1960. This was because more and more writers were being silenced by being put in prison.

The Writers in Prison Committee keeps track of up to 900 writers each year. These writers have been jailed, hurt, threatened, or even killed for peacefully doing their job. The committee publishes a list twice a year. This list shows how writers' freedom of speech has been violated.

The committee also organizes campaigns for PEN International members. These campaigns aim to stop attacks on writers and end the stopping of free speech everywhere.

The Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX). IFEX is a global group of 90 non-governmental organizations. It watches censorship around the world. It also defends journalists, writers, and others who are in trouble for speaking freely.

Ma Thida is the leader of this important committee.

PEN Awards for Writers

Many different PEN groups give out literary awards. These awards celebrate great writing in many areas.

Memorials to PEN's Work

A memorial grove in Canberra, Australia

Witness sculpture by Antony Gormley in London

There is a special grove of trees next to Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australia. This is a memorial for PEN International. A sign there says: "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." This memorial was opened on November 17, 1997.

In London, there is a metal sculpture called Witness. English PEN asked Antony Gormley to create it for their 90th anniversary. It stands outside the British Library. The sculpture shows an empty chair. This chair is a symbol that English PEN has used for 30 years to represent writers who are in prison. It was shown to the public on December 13, 2011.

Well-Known Members

Past Presidents

See also

In Spanish: PEN Club Internacional para niños

• Day of the Imprisoned Writer
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange
• International PEN centers – Over 145 PEN centers around the world.
  • English PEN – The first PEN center, located in London.
  • PEN America – Located in New York City.
  • PEN Canada – Located in Toronto, Canada.
  • Sydney PEN – One of Australia's three PEN centers, in Sydney.
  • PEN Centre Germany – Started in 1924.
  • Hungarian PEN Club – Started in 1926.
  • PEN Ukraine – Started in 1989.
• PEN literary awards – Awards given by PEN centers worldwide.
• Tunisia Monitoring Group