PEN International Executive Director Laura McVeigh send Message to Pen Centers

Dear friends,

It was a wonderful introduction to the world of PEN to attend this year’s Annual Congress in Belgrade .  My thanks to everyone who took the time to meet me and share news, hopes and aspirations for PEN.  To those members with whom I have not as yet had the opportunity to talk – please do get in touch at [email protected] and let me know about your work, your centre, your committee engagement and your ideas for the future of PEN.

I would like in particular to thank Serbian PEN for the amazing job they did in hosting the event and for making everyone feel so welcome.  Such an incredible, dedicated team of volunteers, staff and PEN members worked so hard behind the scenes to make the event successful.  Thank you!

It was remarkable to see PEN members come together to create a new Balkans network, to also work on a new European network and existing networks, to campaign on important freedom of expression issues in countries including Mexico, China, Bahrain, Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji, Iran, South Africa, Syria, Turkey and Vietnam.  We discussed concerns on freedom of expression and movement within the European Union, highlighted the Girona Manifesto, debated challenges faced by the Kurdish and the Roma, heard moving accounts about recent events in Tunisia, welcomed new members to Congress and indeed a new Centre – Occitan.  We shared readings, stories, news of literature from across the world and participated in the Free the Word festival organised by Serbian PEN to accompany Congress. PEN International President John Ralston Saul, in an address with the Serbian President Boris Tadić, spoke eloquently about PEN’s history, role and the importance of promoting literature and defending freedom of expression.  And we celebrated and recognised the achievements of Liu Xiaobo, founder of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Nobel Laureate for Peace 2010 and of former PEN President Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Laureate for Literature 2010. 

We thanked Mohamed Magani who stepped down this year for his tremendous contributions to PEN International’s Board over the last six years.  In what was an exciting ballot, we welcomed Sylvestre Clancier to the Board of PEN International.  He has pledged to be a strong Board member on behalf of the membership, to listen, to take members’ issues to the Board, to be active on your behalf.  All of the Board are committed to transparency, to finding new, better ways of working and communicating and welcomed the desire for change as expressed during Congress.

What was clear to me is that we need more space, more time and different settings during Congress in which to share news, debate and work together – not just report back on activities during the year.  We will take this understanding into our planning for the 2012 Congress in Korea .

Congress also provided PEN International with an opportunity to focus on how we work, how we communicate with each other.  It provided a space in which we could discuss PEN’s role in the world and how PEN should adapt for the next decade.

From listening to many delegates, the following three themes came to the fore – Communications, Relevance and Effectiveness:

Communications: how can we improve communications – between PEN International and the membership, between members directly, and in terms of the public image of PEN and its place on the global stage?

As challenges to freedom of expression grow and change – whether because of weak state actors, digital surveillance, endemic censorship, constraints on writers and their freedom of movement, changes in the world of publishing and so forth, how can PEN as an organisation and as a movement adapt to meet those changes?  How do we ensure we are truly influencing and shaping the debate on freedom of expression through the lens of literature?

How do we function as a movement and organisation?  What do we do differently, better?  What can we adapt in our structures and procedures? How do we balance our history and traditions with a need to remain relevant and active? How can we reflect the diversity of our membership better through translation, through advocacy, through new ways of working? How should Congress work in the future?  How can we make our resolutions more effective?  What do we need to change to keep renewing and growing PEN?

Many of you put forward solutions, shared ideas and examples of projects, approaches that work in similar contexts.  We have taken away from Congress your feedback and advice.  We discussed and reflected on this feedback at the Board retreat held immediately following Congress. 

And now, as I put together a roadmap for PEN International (a three year plan to take us from 2012 – 2014), your suggestions, recommendations and requests will inform that plan.

 So what key actions can you expect?
 Over the coming months I pledge the following to members:

 We will launch the new PEN International website and work to ensure it is as interactive, as community based, as strong as possible a platform that it can be for connecting members, showcasing work and writing and creating a vibrant online PEN community linked to other online PEN groups.

We will review our Communications strategy and focus on finding funding to strengthen our communications, media and advocacy work in support of the membership.

We will continue to focus on stabilising the organisation financially and will seek where possible to find resources to better support our Committees and the network activity across the membership.

We will explore new ways of working in partnership with Centres on international campaigns, programmes and projects.

We will take on board the helpful suggestions for change to the Congress format and try new approaches at Congress in Korea in 2012.

We will provide regular monthly updates on PEN International’s work.

 PEN has tremendous potential.  It is unique.  It is all of us working together with common purpose and commitment.  I want to ensure PEN International stays true to our shared aims – promoting literature and defending freedom of expression.  And I ask for your help, participation and support to help PEN achieve that potential.