About PEN International

PEN International is a worldwide organisation of writers that defends the right to free expression all around the globe.

The organisation was founded in London in 1921 by the British poet, playwright, and peace activist Catherine Amy Dawson-Scott. Its purpose was to encourage friendships and intellectual collaboration between writers to defend the freedom of speech and to forward world literature. Since the 1960s, when the Committee for Imprisoned Writers was formed, PEN has launched a great number of campaigns in support of threatened and persecuted writers.

The name PEN is an acronym for poets, essayists, and novelists. Over time membership has been widened to include a larger group of people who work in the literary field.

PEN’s strength is its members—over 25 000 writers worldwide are engaged in defending the written word and the freedom of speech. Today PEN International has its offices in London, which functions to join together the 149 PEN Centres in over one hundred countries.

Den 26 januari 2017 ställde sig en delegation från PEN International utanför Silivrifängelset, Istanbul, i solidaritet med de många författare, journalister och intellektuella om fängslats i Turkiet. På bilden syns bland andra PEN Internationals ordförande Jennifer Clement, författaren Per Wästberg, den tidigare ordföranden John Ralston Saul och PEN:s tidigare vice ordförande Eugene Schoulgin.