Vr

11

oktober

90th PEN Congress, Oxford (UK), 23 - 27 September 2024

Oorspronkelijk zou dit congres in 2021 plaatsvinden, maar door de corona-pandemie moest het gecanceld worden. In afgezwakte vorm vond het nu plaats, mede georganiseerd door English PEN. Er waren ruim 80 gedelegeerden van PEN-centra aanwezig en een twintigtal volgde de vergaderingen via Zoom. Meer dan 200 schrijvers namen deel aan het congres. Het thema was Writers in a World at War.

De congreszaal, de vluchtige contacten (in de haast gehouden lunchafspraken, overleg in korte pauzes, visitekaartjes toeschuiven) en veel regen buiten: die staan me het meeste bij. Indrukwekkend was wat de Oekraïense PEN allemaal doet op cultureel, moreel en educatief gebied. 

Een paneldiscussie met de Turkse schrijfster Elif Shafak n.a.v. haar veelgeprezen nieuwe boek, waarin ze de Tigris verbindt aan de Thames en zelfs aan het Gilgamesj-epos, verenigd in één enkele regendruppel, behelsde ook de situatie voor schrijvers in Turkije m.b.t. mensenrechten. De gemoederen tijdens een resolutiebespreking over het conflict Israel - Gaza liepen hoog op, m.n. over de formulering. Tot mijn grote verdriet werd besloten PEN Center North Korean Writers in Exile, naast twaalf andere centra, op te heffen i.v.m. het niet nakomen van de ‘dues’ en gebrek aan activiteiten. Indertijd was ik nauw betrokken bij de oprichting ervan. Triest hoe zo'n indertijd bevlogen, enthousiaste, tot acties bereide groep schrijvers uiteindelijk uitmondt in een stilzwijgen.  

 

Report PEN Emergency Fund 2023-2024), Main Assembly (Delegates, Wednesday 25.08.2024,10:40-10.50)

  1. INTRODUCTION

The PEN Emergency Fund is doing very well. This evokes, of course, mixed feelings: if the human rights and in particular freedom of expression and of opinion were respected in the world, the fund would have been redundant.

  1. HOW DOES THE FUND WORK?

In 2023 and ’24 we have been working closely and very successfully with, I may say, our dear and hardworking executive director and her crew: the five ‘Heads of Region’ and the new researcher, especially for Palestinian cases. They cover a large part of the world from where the applications come in. They check and double-check those applications and send them to us. Then we check whether the applications fit within our mandate. Important considerations are: 1) is the writer in urgent need because of her or his writings or statements, and 2) is the writer peaceful, in accordance with the charter of PEN (so we don’t reward calls for violence or incitement to hatred)?

The power of the fund is that we work behind the scenes and can handle very quickly. The Executive Board exists of only 3 members. Moreover it hardly costs any money (mainly bank costs). All the five board members are volunteers, and there are no buildings that need to be paid for.

  1. INCOME

The fund remains entirely dependent on the goodwill of others: you, PEN members and PEN Centers, and from individual writers and publishers. Because of the support of our donors, the deficits in recent years were bearable, despite the large number of grants. We were utterly delighted by the heartwarming donations in 2023 and ’24 from English PEN, PEN America, PEN Melbourne, PEN Trieste, PEN Suomen (Finland), PEN Centre Suisse Romand, PEN Flanders, PEN Netherlands and PEN San Miguel. English PEN organised in cooperation with English and Scottish bookstores a successful action, ‘Valentines4Palestine’. The proceeds were transferred to our fund, with the aim of supporting Palestinian authors.

PEN America also gave a donation for supporting Palestinian writers in urgent need. The situation in Gaza is, as you know, very deplorable and the country is almost closed, but we have been able to support eight Palestinian authors this year, in close collaboration with PEN International, and we expect many more Palestinian cases.

 

  1. GRANTS

 

As in 2022, the number of grants, awarded to authors-in-urgent-need, was in ‘23 more than 50. In earlier years, the number was usually 30 up to 35. This year we already supported 55 writers in dire straits. Most of the applications came from Nicaragua, Myanmar, Palestine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Turkey. And there were many writers from other countries who received urgent support. The standard amount was 2,000 euros.

 

  1. THANKS

 

On behalf of the entire fund board, thanks to you, PEN International, for the tremendous collaboration once again and for your trust and support.

And thanks to you, PEN Centers and members that supported us. Without your support our fund was like a fish without water.

 

I will end with one of the many, sometimes heartbreaking reactions we recently received from writers who were supported:

 

‘I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for the generous support provided by PEN International and the PEN Emergency Fund. The donation of 2000 euros is not only a significant financial aid for my family and me, but it also carries an invaluable message of solidarity and hope.’ With warmest regards, (…)

 

Thank you for your attention,

Job Degenaar (president PEN Emergency Fund)